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OHO 



TWO MEN OF TAUNTON 




ROBERT TREAT PAINE 

Memorial Statue, 'I'aunton 



Two Men 

of Ta U NT ON 

In the Course of Human Events 
i73i_i829 

By Ralph Davol 




Davol Publishing Company 

Taunton^ Massachusetts 

I 9 I 2 






COPYRIGHT, I912, BY RALPH DAVOL 
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED 



f^r^ 



WHEN IN THE COURSE OF HUMAN EVENTS 

it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve 
the political bands which have connected them 
with another, and to assume, among the powers 
of the earth, the separate and equal station to 
which the laws of nature and of nature's God en- 
title them, a decent respect to the opinions of 
mankind requires that they should declare the 
causes which impel them to the separation. — 
Declaration of Independence, July 4, 1776. 



Greeting 



The simple Truth is all we ask, 

Not the Ideal. 
We set ourselves the noble task 

To find the Real. 



THE Historical Society serves as a sort of 
tap-root of expanding civilization. The 
more zealous and active members are 
continually penetrating the mouldered Past, try- 
ing to feed the budding leaves of the Future. 

" The fallen leaves nourish the tree that it shall 
be clothed anew." 

Somewhat after the manner of the apple-tree 
roots that followed the decaying bones of Roger 
Williams, and preserved the form of the man in the 
vegetable kingdom after it had left the animal, 
has the writer, a member of the Old Colony His- 
torical Society, chosen to follow out, through 
scattered archives, a few buried facts in an effort 
to preserve in the Kingdom of Letters some out- 
line of two long-vanished Yankee gentlemen, with 
the hope that another generation may find profit 
or pleasure in reading of men who held high seats 
in the councils of their day. As these two per- 
sonages came upon the stage at a robust period, 
giving fine opportunity for distinction, it seems 
worth while to attempt to rehabilitate their 

[ v] 



Greeting 

careers with some warmth of Hfe; to show what 
they stood for in their day and generation; to 
revive awhile the contemporaneous pulse-beat; 
and give a glimpse of the depth of feeling, suffer- 
ing, sacrifice, and heartrending attendant upon 
those days of stirring thought and action, when 
one people were severing the political bands which 
bound them to another; when families were sun- 
dered in the sifting of parties; when the Lion and 
the Unicorn (the arms of King George with the 
garter motto, '^Honi soit qui mal y pense^^) gave 
place to the lone Indian and uplifted arm on the 
seal proclaiming, ^^ Ense petit placidam sub liber- 
tate quietem''^; when, at the close of the Thanks- 
giving proclamation, "God save the King" be- 
came "God save the Commonwealth of Massa- 
chusetts." 

During that era in which this story lies, novels 
were often constructed in a series of personal let- 
ters, such as the immortal Clarissa Harlowe^ 
Humphrey Clinker, or the American Eliza Whar- 
ton. The first impulse was to present the lives and 
times of our subjects in gossipy letters, supposed 
to be written by local characters who discussed 
events of their day. This proved a more unsatis- 
factory task than had been anticipated. Second 
Thought whispered that an attractive method of 
preserving the peaches of Truth in a syrup of Fic- 
tion might be to attempt a biographical romance. 

[ vi] 



Greeting 

What better underlying groundwork could a ro- 
mancer ask around which to weave the delicate 
embroidery of his fancy? These central figures, 
though local, have many experiences touching the 
universal comedy and tragedy — a christening in 
the Old South Church; a mother's life sacrificed to 
her child's existence ; two students at Harvard Col- 
lege; their subsequent rivalries in love, law, and 
politics; the strategy by which one is decoyed 
from his duties by the other; a minister's son 
selling a slave in the Carolinas; a child demented 
as a result of political frenzy; two men severed in 
their associations by opposite views of govern- 
ment; one leaping into immortal fame by signing 
the Declaration of Independence, the other 
hunted from his home by fellow townsmen; the 
son of one hero a genius of letters, the son of the 
other an inebriate vagabond; a wife buried in the 
bosom of the ocean, and the pitiful tragic end, by 
his own hand, of a venerable expatriate in Lon- 
don. In such experiences, there is ample founda- 
tion for the story-teller who wishes to lead his 
reader into the Castles of Imagination where so 
many pleasant things occur. But even though the 
writer win the compliment given to Defoe (" he lies 
like the truth"), the matter-of-fact reader, skepti- 
cal and unsatisfied, might reward his pains by ex- 
claiming, "Yes! Yes! All moonshine!" and fling 
the book into the open grate. 
[ vii] 



Greeting 

When the long-labored-on, semi-fictional chap- 
ters were submitted to venerable antiquarians, 
the author received the rather pointed injunction 
to forswear all fancy on the ground that Fact is 
more fascinating than Fiction; and after all, per- 
haps the finest charm of a story lies in measuring 
the incidents of one's own life with those which 
have actually happened to another; in knowing 
what that person was doing when at the same age; 
what relation the individual bore to the mass of 
humanity; what scenes his eyes beheld; what were 
his tastes and humors; what his changing points 
of view; how he governed his passions; and espe- 
cially (for this is the real man) what thoughts 
went drifting through his brain from the mother's 
knee to tottering age. Our heroes, of course, 
passed through the same tremulous mental condi- 
tions as do we to-day — hope and melancholy, 
light and darkness, love and jealousy, pride and 
renunciation, temptation and triumph (the old 
passions remain the same, mind whetting against 
mind, heart wrestling with heart) — and it is the 
relation of these human passions to the different 
settings and varying times which makes the local 
color. 

Then let it stand as an attempt at faithful por- 
traiture executed with such liberties as the por- 
trait painter is allowed. If, at any time, the reader 
has reason to suspect that the narrative is founded 
[ viii ] 



Greeting 

on circumstantial evidence, he will please bear 
with the artisan, upon the plea that the original 
color had not all worked out of the brush. In 
twining these two lives together the writer takes 
a leaf from Plutarch, who frequently pairs his 
heroes for balance and relief, measuring a Greek 
against a Roman. In this case the brace of he- 
roes were at one time neighbors, but followed 
opposite political stars, bringing widely divergent 
fortunes. The heat of action, long since cooled, 
has left each man in clear individuality. We are 
sufficiently far removed from the immediate 
theatre of their glory to untangle the snarl of alli- 
ances and feuds, and place their personal accom- 
plishments in better perspective than could their 
neighbor, whose prejudice, pride, and jealousy was 
blinding him to see exactly each actor's true place 
in the quick-moving drama. 

In assembling material for this book the writer 
is indebted to Charles F. Adams, Frank B. San- 
born, Henry C. Crane, Franklin Pratt, William G. 
Davis, C. H. Pope, Mary A. Tenney, Joshua 
Crane, D. Howard Briggs, Houghton Mifflin Co., 
James H. Stark, Perry Walton, Willard Leonard, 
Robert Reid, Old Colony Historical Society, Bos- 
tonian Society, Harvard University, Boston Athe- 
nseum, Mr. Tracy, curator of the State archives, 
and others. 



CONTENTS 

GREETING v 

PREAMBLE i 

AT FIRST THE INFANT 17 

I. The Old Colony Background ... 19 

II. A Brahmin Pedigree 39 

III. Land of the Leonards 53 

THEN THE SCHOOL-BOY (,^ 

IV. Boston Latin and Norton School Days 69 

V. Harvard College in the Eighteenth 

Century 91 

NEXT THE SOLDIER 105 

VI. Adventures by Sea and Forest . . . 107 
VII. A Family of Colonels 128 

AND THEN THE LOVER 135 

VIII. Hanging the Shingles 137 

IX. A Belle of Taunton .153 

X. Aunt Eunice and Sally Cobb . . .162 
XL Leonard's Second Marriage . . . .183 
[xi] 



Contents 

NEXT THE JUSTICE 199 

XII. King's Attorney 201 

XIII. A Cause Celebre 212 

XIV. The Great and General Court . . 221 
XV. The Continental Congress . . . 237 

XVI . A Tory Absentee 262 

XVII. The Massachusettensis Papers . . 277 

XVIII. Taunton during the Revolution . 294 

XIX. First Attorney-General of Massa- 
chusetts 313 

XX. A Supreme Court Justice . . . .329 

XXI. Daniel in the Lions' Den .... 339 

XXII. Chief Justice of the Bermudas . .351 

THE LEAN AND SLIPPERED PANTALOON . 356 

XXIII. A Family of Bostonians .... 367 

XXIV. An Aged Exile in London .... 386 

LAST SCENE OF ALL 393 

XXV. Passing of a Patriot 395 

XXVI. Last of a Loyalist 398 

A CALENDAR OF LIVES 401 

[xii] 



ILLUSTRATIONS 

Paine's Statue, Taunton Frontispiece' 

Leonard's Mansion t^ 

Old State House 6*^ 

John Adams 12'^ 

Robert Treat Paine 20"^ 

Daniel Leonard 34-^ 

Puritan Governor of Connecticut .... 46^' 

Elegy of Thomas Leonard 54-^ 

Proposed Monument to Iron Pioneers .... 58*^ 
Leonard " House of Seven Gables " . . . . 64^ 

Map of Boston 70-^ 

Boston Harbor 80*^ 

Harvard College 92'^ 

Harvard Commencement Programme .... 102*^ 

Governor Thomas Hutchinson 130 "^ 

Lawyer at Court 146 '^ 

Persecuting a Tory 206 

Boston Massacre 214-^ 

Old Province House 222"^ 

[ xiii ] 



Illustrations 



Herring Petition 228\ 

Hall of Representatives ^^i^ 

Prayer in Congress 242": 

Signing the Declaration 254"! 

Independence Hall 260*. 

Battle of Bunker Hill 274^'! 

Taunton Green 300'', 

John Hancock 330 

Reception to Loyalists 342" 

Bermuda 358" 

Sam Adams 368 ^ 

Old South Church 378" 

Temple Bar 388^ 



TWO MEN OF TAUNTON 

Preamble 

Under which king, Bezonian ? speak, or die. 

Henry IV. 

HAD you been living in the days of the 
American Revolution and chanced to 
stroll through the village of Taunton in 
the early morning, the last of May, 1774, you 
might have seen a gay young man, then turning 
his thirty-fourth birthday, arrayed in rich velvet 
coat, white stockings, bright-buckled shoes, and 
cocked hat flashing with gold braid, as he came 
forth from the mansion on the northwest side 
of the sprawling, pasture-like common, known 
throughout the Old Colony as "Ta'nt'n Green." 
Surveying the heavens with his weather eye, as 
he takes a pinch from his lacquered snuff-box, 
our fashionable friend walks down the box-lined 
path to the stable, where he gives sundry orders 
to Spencer, a colored groom, who, thereupon, 
changes his coat and crosses to the house newly 
erected on the northeast side of the Green. The 
slave sounds a heavy knocker and then, with 
respectful bow, communicates his message to a 
tall, spare man, in years rising forty, but appar- 

[ I ] 



Two Men of Taunton 



elled with less regard to the latest mode of 
London than his neighbor. 

An hour later this tall gentleman, carrying a 
white canvas bag and cane, emerges from his 
house with a small boy clinging to his finger and 
his young wife, sunbonnetted, by his side. To- 
gether, the trio walk to the mansion of their 
grand neighbor, who is conversing with his wife 
and six-year-old daughter in the blossom-scented 
dooryard. The family party is joined by such 
early-rising townsmen as young Dr. Cobb, Rich- 
ard Caldwell, the storekeeper. Parson Caleb 
Barnum, and others alert to the imminent political 
crisis. Presently a pair of spirited horses, driven 
by an ebony Jehu, drag a yellow coach up to the 
front entrance. With a stirrup-cup and parting 
joke about saving their country, the eager discus- 
sion of men and matters of importance is broken 
off and the tall man and his neighbor (bidding 
their wives such a good-bye as men married 
four years bestow) enter the vehicle with their 
bags and pipes and canes, and at the crack of 
the whip are off to the northward on the old Bay 
Road. 

Were you a stranger in the town, the village 
hairdresser would have told you that the two 
travellers were Colonel Leonard and Squire Paine, 
both lately elected to the General Court, and now 
setting out for the summer session at Boston. 

[2] 



Preamble 

Then if, like some daring school-boy without 
prejudice against a dust-bath, you could have 
chased behind, and stolen a seat on top of the 
horsehide trunk strapped to the rumble (dang- 
ling your feet over the brass nails, spelling the 
initials "D, L."), you might have heard a lively 
colloquy as they rolled along through the spring 
forest, whitened with flowering dogwood and fra- 
grant with opening wild-grape blossoms. The 
conversation begins with comment on the glory 
of the morning and the freshness of nature; is in- 
terspersed with the greeting of friends, passing in 
chaises or on horseback; drifts into ominous epi- 
sodes of the day — the omission this summer of 
the Harvard Commencement which they were 
wont to attend, omitted this year because of the 
fermenting state of public aifairs; the Boston 
Tea Party of the previous winter; the bold burn- 
ing of the Gaspee at Providence; the impeachment 
of Judge Oliver for accepting a salary from the 
Crown; the Port Bill about to go into effect and 
the sympathy for Boston, shown by towns far and 
near, in offering sheep, fish, meal, wood, and her- 
ring for her subsistence. 

As they talked, feeling their way with cautious 
words, deep convictions were working to outward 
expression; each was gradually revealing his in- 
most personal attitude toward the impending 
crisis. Out of the depths of ancestral influences, 

[3 ] 



Two Men of Taunton 



from delicate springs of temperament and associa- 
tion, came intuitive predilections which shaped 
their different views. Each felt in his heart pre- 
sentiments of his relation to coming events; for 
"in to-day already walks to-morrow." 

The occupants of this coach typified, in their 
attitude to each other, the fatal chasm between 
two political parties. The crucial dilemma, in 
which Paine and Leonard found themselves, of 
choosing between Friends of Government and 
Sons of Liberty, involved fame, property, home, 
and country. Paine, revolting against constituted 
authority, quotes Locke, Milton, Grotius, and 
argues for the right of secession, much as Calhoun 
did in the next century when South Carolina 
sought to withdraw from the Union. Paine up- 
holds the rights of the colonies and contends that 
all authority is vested in the consent of the gov- 
erned ; that it is a fundamental right of the people 
to have some check or control on the legislature; 
that the laws of England should have no force 
here, unless confirmed by the General Court; if 
the right of taxation is conceded to Parliament, 
what power or influence is left to America ? 

Leonard replies that the power of Parliament is 
coextensive with the empire, and that George III 
is King of Massachusetts as much as of Nova 
Scotia or Ireland; that if the Crown cannot tax 
the colonies, it is not sovereign and there is no 

[4] 



Preamble 

general government; there cannot be two powers 
in the same State; to permit the lesser to with- 
draw from the greater will unhinge all govern- 
ment. Great Britain has protected the colonists 
in their wars, and America should bear a part of 
the national burden in return; she has cost more 
to maintain than has been received in taxes. He 
expatiates on the certainty of defeat for the raw 
Provincials in battle with the King's troops ; and 
on the summary punishment of rebellion. Eng- 
land, determined to enforce her laws, will send an 
organized army to crush the undisciplined militia ; 
her navy will destroy the towns along the coast, 
while Canadians and savages will desolate the 
inland settlements. Even should the colonists 
triumph, they would quarrel over boundaries and 
military rule by reason of diversity of laws and 
religion; and France and Spain would soon take 
their ancient possessions and divide the continent 
between them. If the colonists have any real 
grievance, it is not from illegal use of power by 
Parliament, but from lack of representation in 
that body. 

Arguing around the circle, they try to keep 
within constitutional bounds, and if Leonard 
meets all his points, Paine falls back on "first 
principles." "Yes, I know," he replies, "but the 
natural law of right takes precedence over parlia- 
mentary statutes." If Leonard insists that loy- 

[5 ] 



Two Men of Taunton 



alty to the Constitution is the first duty of the 
subject, Paine answers, "Between loyalty to 
King George and loyalty to King Conscience, I 
cannot hesitate." Paine seems to defy law and 
order, Leonard to obey them; one is appealing to 
the past, the other to the future. Leonard is a 
Unionist, Paine a secessionist. 

The travellers smoke, gesticulate, and earnestly 
discuss the new Governor Gage, and his intention 
of convening the Legislature at Salem. As they 
draw near Milton, they speak of Governor Hutch- 
inson, who is preparing to sail for England; and 
when Colonel Leonard proposes to drive in for 
a farewell call upon him. Squire Paine is careful 
to say "Good morning, Mr. Leonard," excusing 
himself on the ground of pressing business requir- 
ing his immediate attention in Boston, where we 
may assume that a short, gray-headed man, by 
the name of Sam Adams, was a greater attraction 
at that moment than the royal governor. 

These two distinguished Tauntonians were thus 
gravitating — one toward Sam Adams, the other 
toward Thomas Hutchinson — the antipodal 
master-minds of the opposing Whig and Tory 
parties in Massachusetts. 

It was some two months later that the final 
parting of the ways came for these fellow-trav- 
ellers. Then, if you still lingered around Taunton 
Green, you might have seen, one August morning, 

[6] 




OLD STATE HOUSE, BOSTON 



Preamble 

Squire Paine departing again, this time in his own 
chaise, escorted by cheering fellow-citizens wish- 
ing him God-speed upon his way, to the first 
American Congress. A few days later, Colonel 
Leonard steals away from his hearthstone to es- 
cape annihilation at the hands of his townsmen, 
and is destined never again to make his home in 
this region of his forbears. 

Viewed from our standpoint of American ideals 
of patriotism and liberty, there is a strong tempt- 
ation to treat melodramatically these two rivals, 
sanctifying Paine and vilifying Leonard. Even 
though Leonard made a monstrous mistake and 
missed his aim in life, we believe that his motives 
were pure, and do not charge him with evil de- 
signs against his country, nor brand him with 
obloquy. Turning the searchlight on all corners 
of Paine's career, we do not find a paragon of 
virtue. 

Each was a success and each a failure; for so 
long as human ideals outrun human attainments, 
so long is each individual bound to be a self- 
convicted failure; so long as one is loyal to the 
daily dictates of implanted conscience and works 
bravely onward, he may be a glorious success. 
With one hand we hold fast to the good; with the 
other we reach out for the better. Always there 
is the outgrown established order, to which Leon- 
ard clung, at war with the eternal forward move- 

[7] 



Two Men of Taunton 



ment of which Paine was a part. The thrill of 
most satisfying happiness comes when we let go 
the ancient order of things, do something new, 
and feel we are doing right; when the restraint of 
heredity, of habit, of the law of years is broken, 
and the liberated spirit cries, "I have found satis- 
faction in new things ; I have left the old wrecks 
behind me." And so our sympathies remain with 
Paine. 

These men were alike in many ways : both grew 
up only sons; both were Harvard graduates; both 
lawyers; once admirers of the same woman; both 
found homes on Taunton Green; always promi- 
nent in public office, both became judges; and 
both lived beyond threescore and ten. Sharp 
contrasting as well as parallel pictures come to 
view, and their diversified careers seem to con- 
form remarkably to the Seven Ages which the 
English dramatist has set for this play of life. 
Then let us visualize the successive scenes in the 
eighteenth century, and follow the two players 
as they walk the stage, making their exits and 
their entrances, each, in due time, playing his 
many parts. 

First the Infant. 

Paine, nestled in furs, carried down School 
Street, in Boston, to be christened in the Old 
South Church; Leonard, a motherless babe, in 
[8] 



Preamble 

the arms of a negro nurse at Norton Planta- 
tions. 

Then the School-boy. 

Paine, slipping across to the Latin School, 
next door to his home, and reciting bonus-a-um 
to the famous schoolmaster Lovell; Leonard, 
barefooted, ruddy and freckled, riding his pony 
to the "deestreek" school at Winnecunnett, 
or delivering the class oration at Harvard in 
presence of the historian Hutchinson. 

Next the Soldier. 

Paine, the militant and adventurous young 
chaplain in the Crown Point Expedition against 
French and Indians; Leonard, in resplendent 
uniform, a lieutenant-colonel, drilling the raw 
recruits at the annual June muster on Taunton 
Green. 

Then the Lover. 

Paine, a tardy benedict, marries, with amus- 
ing suddenness, into an iron-master's family; 
Leonard starts out in a chaise on a "wedding 
tower" through New England with the charm- 
ing daughter of Colonel White. 

Next the Justice. 

Squire Paine, after participating in the Con- 
tinental Congress at Philadelphia and signing 
the Declaration of Independence, goes riding 

[9] 



Two Men of Taunton 



through the woods of Maine, then a part of the 
court circuit of Massachusetts judges; while 
Leonard, in flowing, full-bottomed wig, dra- 
matically presides over the motley population 
of the summery islands at Bermuda. 

The Pantaloon Age. 

Paine, gray and withered, walks in procession 
with his old comrades, Adams and Gerry, to 
arouse patriotism and the " spirit of '76," dur- 
ing the naval war with Great Britain; Leonard 
goes tapping with his cane along the brick side- 
walks of London, muttering stories of his old 
life across the seas to children's willing ears. 

Last Scene of All. 

Paine passes out of life, in the bosom of his 
family, to lie buried but a few steps from the 
spot where he was born; Leonard, after his 
tragic end, is lonesomely buried in the heart 
of the biggest city in Christendom. 

The sources from which this book is compiled 
are brief sketches of Leonard and Paine in vari- 
ous publications; their letters in the possession 
of individuals, families, and historical societies; 
and other unpublished "monuments of vanished 
minds." The private journal of Paine was the 
sine qua non, kindly placed by his descendants at 
the writer's disposal. 

[ 10] 



Preamble 

The daily chronicles of Bradford, Winthrop, 
the Mathers, Sewall, and the Adamses embalm 
the history of New England before the advent of 
the daily paper. These were not meagre records 
of the weather and their own whereabouts, but 
comment on men and things, their opinions, 
prejudices, aims — the vital movements of the 
days we wish to know. A record of Leonard's 
thoughts, emotions, and succeeding incidents in 
his life might have more charm than those of 
Paine; but his papers were scattered to the four 
winds or kindled into bonfires by unsympathetic 
hands. 

Paine kept a journal nearly seventy years, skip- 
ping scarcely a day, except from September 3 to 
September 15, 1752, when Clio herself has left 
no record of English history. This journal, an 
epitome of legal conciseness, — a mere brief of 
his earthly pilgrimage, — is extant, save the log 
of his maritime wanderings; but is provokingly 
lean and unfruitful, — a faithful weather report 
and laconic entries of daily problems uppermost 
in his mind. He was not so gifted with ready 
flow of language, as Jonathan Sewall or Peter 
Oliver; nor had he such a reflective turn as John 
Adams, For example, in reference to the above- 
mentioned change in the calendar, Paine's full 
entry in his journal is merely this : 

September 15, 1752. This day, according to Act 

[ II ] 



Two Men of Taunton 



of Parliament, we begin to count time according 
to the Gregorian Calendar. 

Thomas Jefferson, Ben Franklin, or John 
Adams would have philosophized on the occasion 
which added eleven days to their lives at one clip, 
and gave Franklin excuse for keeping two birth- 
days.^ 

As their principal contemporary, weighing 
these men in the balances of judgment, we turn 
to John Adams, whose inquiring mind was always 
dissecting his associates in his private records, 
sometimes using, it almost seems, the quill of a 
porcupine dipped in vinegar. 

Daniel Leonard and John Adams were intimate 
friends for a dozen years, associated socially, 
politically, professionally. After their separation, 
Adams, looking back through half a century to the 
misty figures of early manhood, once spoke of his 
friendship with Leonard as "a vapor blown off 
by political winds." Again he wrote to Josiah 
Quincy: 

I have differed for many years in political senti- 
ments from your grandfather, your uncle Samuel, 

^ The discrepancy between the solar and calendar year had 
been increasing for centuries, so that the Protestant and Ro- 
man Catholic countries assigned this time for a readjustment 
of the calendar; while the Greek Church to this day retains 
the old form. 

[ 12 ] 




JOHN ADAMS 
By Stuart 



Preamble 

your cousin Jonathan Sewall, Daniel Leonard, and 
some others, the most intimate friends I ever en- 
joyed, without the smallest personal altercation, 
and, I am bold to say, without diminution of es- 
teem on either side. 

In a letter to Dr. Jedidiah Morse, dated Quincy, 
December 22, 18 15, Adams again refers to his 
brother barristers (Leonard, Jonathan Sewall, 
Samuel Quincy) as his 

cordial, confidential, and bosom friends. I never, in 
the whole course of my life, lived with any other men 
in more perfect intimacy. They all had been patri- 
ots, as decided, as I believed, as I was. 

He adds: 

Leonard was a scholar, a lawyer, and an orator, 
according to the standard of those days. As a mem- 
ber of the House of Representatives, even down to 
the year 1770, he made the most ardent speeches 
which were delivered in that House against Great 
Britain, and in favor of the Colonies. His popular- 
ity became alarming. The two sagacious spirits, 
Hutchinson and Sewall, soon penetrated his char- 
acter, of which, indeed, he had exhibited very vis- 
ible proofs. He had married a daughter of Mr. Ham- 
mock, who had left her a portion, as it was thought in 
that day. He wore a broad gold lace around the 
rim of his hat, he had made his cloak glitter with 
laces still broader, he had set up his chariot and 
pair, and constantly travelled in it from Taunton 

[ 13 ] 



Two Men of Taunton 



to Boston. This made the world stare; it was a nov- 
elty. Not another lawyer in the province, attorney 
or barrister, of whatever age, rank, or station, pre- 
sumed to ride in a coach or in a chariot. The dis- 
cerning ones soon perceived that wealth and power 
must have charms to a heart that delighted in so 
much finery, and indulged in such unusual expense. 
Such marks could not escape the vigilant eyes of 
the two arch-tempters, Hutchinson and Sewall, who 
had more art, insinuation, and address than all the 
rest of their party. Poor Daniel was beset with 
great zeal for his conversion. Hutchinson sent for 
him, courted him with the ardor of a lover, reasoned 
with him, flattered him, overawed him, frightened 
him, invited him to come frequently to his house. 
As I was intimate with Mr. Leonard during the 
whole of this process, I had the substance of this 
information from his own mouth, was a witness 
to the progress of the impression made upon him, 
and to many of the labors and struggles of his mind, 
between his interest, his vanity, and his duty. 

The relation of Adams to Paine was different. 
Both have left plain evidence of their opinions 
of each other. Under the greensward of outward 
amiability was a subsoil of jealous rivalry, turned 
by the plough of occasion to the surface. Paine 
was proud. Adams (frankly announcing it in his 
diary) was self-seeking, vain, a "home-made" 
man, courageous, tenacious, forceful. Much to 

[14] 



Preamble 

the amusement of Paine, Adams made an inglo- 
rious debut in his first case at law. In the excite- 
ment of his new experience, he had drawn a 
defective writ^^so that his client, who had been 
inclined to encourage the new beginner, repented 
his folly and "wished the affair in Hell." 

Adams, aged twenty-three, says of Paine, aged 
twenty-eight: 

How should I bear Bob Paine's detraction ? Should 
I be angry and take vengeance by scandalizing him? 
or should I be easy, undisturbed, and praise him as 
far as he Is praiseworthy? — return good for evil? I 
should have been well pleased, if he had said I was a 
very ingenious, promising, young fellow; but, as it Is, 
I am pretty easy. 

1758. December 3. Bob Paine is conceited, and 
pretends to more knowledge and genius than he has. 
I have heard him say that he took more pleasure in 
solving a problem in algebra than in a frolic. He 
told me, the other day, that he was as curious after a 
minute and particular knowledge of mathematics 
and philosophy as I could be about the laws of 
antiquity. He asked me what Dutch commentator 
I meant? I said, "VInnlus." "VInnius! "says he 
(with a flush of real envy, but pretended contempt) ; 
" you cannot understand one page of VInnlus." He 
must know that human nature Is disgusted with such 
incomplalsant behavior; besides, he has no right to 
say that I do not understand every word In VInnlus, 
for he knows nothing of me. For the future let me 

I IS ] 



Two Men of Taunton 



act the part of a critical spy upon him; not that of 
an open, unsuspicious friend. Last Superior Court 
at Worcester, he dined in company with Mr. Grid- 
ley, Mr. Trowbridge and several others, at Mr. 
Putnam's; and although a modest, attentive be- 
havior would have best become him in such a com- 
pany, yet he tried to engross the whole conversation 
to himself. He did the same in the evening, when 
all the judges of the Superior Court were present; 
and he did the same last Thanksgiving Day at 
Colonel Quincy's, when Mr. Wibird, Mr. Cranch, 
etc., were present. That evening, at Putnam's, he 
called me a numskull and a blunderbuss before all 
the superior judges. . . . He is an impudent, ill-bred, 
conceited fellow; yet he has wit, sense, and learn- 
ing, and a great deal of humor; and has virtue and 
piety, except his fretful, peevish, childish complaints 
against the disposition of things. 

Referring to their appointments as judges of the 
Supreme Court, Adams says : 

Phil. 9 June 1776. 
Paine has acted in his own character, although 
I think not consistent with the public character 
which he has been made to wear. However, I con- 
fess I am not much mortified with this, for the bench 
will not be the less respectable for having less wit, 
humor, drollery, or fun upon it; very diiferent qual- 
ities are necessary for that department. 



AT FIRST THE INFANT 



Chapter I 
T^he Old Colony Background 

Won it by the axe and harrow, 

Held it by the axe and sword, 
Bred a race with brawn and marrow, 

From no alien over-lord. 
Gained the right to guide and govern, 

Then with labor strong and free 
Forged the land, a shield of Empire 

Silver Sea to Silver Sea. 

D. S. Scott. 

THE Stalwart Pilgrim fathers, wading 
through the curling surf from their shal- 
lop (a "bow-shoote" distance) to the 
welcome sands at the point of Cape Cod, and 
bearing in their arms the loyal Pilgrim mothers, 
coming ashore to do their belated washing, 
make a homely and amusing, but very signifi- 
cant, picture of the landing of our Mayflower an- 
cestors. The presence of those women betokens 
that the sea-worn home-seekers had come to stay 
— to breed a new race which should perpetuate 
their vital principles as an abiding influence in the 
land. The genesis of this new provincial type, 
now known throughout the world as the "Down 
East Yankee," was in this Old Colony, and on Cape 
Cod — a "Clam Yankee," the Dixie folks call him. 

[ 19] 



Two Men of Taunton 



Those descendants of Norman and Saxon 
brought sturdy bodies, evolved by long warfare 
against other races, and a moral fibre nerved by 
religious conviction and stiffened by persecution. 
Their most conspicuous quality was courage — 
not so much courage to come (for in time of per- 
secution, the line of least resistance is to migrate), 
but courage to stay in this new country, to put 
the plough into this stubborn soil and not turn 
back with their returning ship. It is this "staying 
quality" which ccxnpels our reverence. 

Hunger brought them hither — soul-hunger for 
the worship of God according to their light. With 
heroic strength of mind they held tenaciously to 
their Nicene Creed, and rebelled against formal- 
ism and ecclesiastical pomp; tolerated no inter- 
mediary between themselves and their Maker; 
recognized two sources of power — God and the 
Devil ; thought it difficult to tally a happy life with 
a virtuous one; guided their lives by the King 
James Version (loath to question its teachings); 
and considered piety the chief end of man.^ They 
felt they had crossed the ocean in fulfilment of 
some divine revelation of human progress. The 
beckoning finger of Cape Cod was a providential 
guide to this location. 

^ John D. Long has pointed out that they were not all "saints"; 
the varied elements of human nature cropped out in the first 
shipload. 

[20] 



The Old Colony Background 

Peculiar characteristics differentiate this Old 
Colony Yankee from the rest of mankind. The 
natural features of a country are said to mould its 
inhabitants. In this Old Colony there are no 
mountains, great rivers, waterfalls, or prairies. 
The four indigenous factors influencing them were: 
the surrounding sea, the fickle climate, the stingy 
soil, and the gloomy wilderness concealing treach- 
erous neighbors. 

The sea invites exploration, demands a wide 
horizon, inspires expectancy and curiosity. The 
capricious climate is a test of physical quality, 
with its range of weather from arctic to tropic on 
short notice, and compels the Yankee in self-pro- 
tection to become a close observer of nature, and 
may explain his remarkable propensity for guess- 
ing. To fortify his constitution against these mer- 
curial changes, he discovered that hard cider and 
Jamaica rum were agreeable accessories, driving 
out fever in summer and warming his stomach in 
winter; and incidentally of value in bargaining 
with red men or in prolonging the pastoral call. 
The Yankee was not always a good match for 
John Barleycorn. He was sometimes trundled 
home in a wheelbarrow from the muster; after an 
installation festival, ministers were known to be 
gently tucked in bed by kind-hearted parishioners; 
gin-sling, toddy, flip, and punch gave Saturday a 
Donnybrook finish; in Taunton, the store-town 

[21] 



Two Men of Taunton 



of the Old Colony, was a shed on Jockey Lane 
known as the "Morgue," where maudlin victims 
snored off their week-end sprees.^ 

Damp weather produced pulmonary complaints. 
The demise of the New England winter was ac- 
companied by a train of ailments. Wells stag- 
nant in summer bred autumn fevers, which car- 
ried oif the little ones. Salt meats and heavy 
foods produced lank, dyspeptic bodies. "Tell me 
what you eat, and I'll tell you what you are," 
says a Frenchman. Diet determines mental and 
moral capacity. Vegetarianism was an unknown 
virtue. Pies of mince-meat, pumpkin, apple, 
chicken, clam, and rhubarb were a mainstay, 
interlarded with "Injun" pudding, doughnuts, 
sausages, hogs-head cheese, "b'iled dinner," cod- 
hsh-balls, johnny-cakes, baked beans, succotash, 
and pandowdy. 

From the soil they acquired a quality called 
"grit." 

"Winning by inches, 
Holding by clinches, 
Slow to contention, but slower to quit; 

Now and then failing, 
Never once quailing, 

Let us thank God for our Saxon grit." 

1 There were then, in proportion to the population, five times 
as many resorts in Taunton, licensed to sell liquors, as there 
are to-day. The public conscience did not look upon this drink- 
ing habit as an enormous sin. 

[22] 



The Old Colony Background 

Inland it was so rocky that they declared the 
ballast from the Ark went overboard there during 
the Flood ; toward the shore it was so sandy, some 
one remarked, that the farmers might be judged 
insane, like the feigning Ulysses when he ploughed 
the seashore at Ithaca; down on the Cape the thin 
garment of soil was sadly "out at heels and 
elbows." In places the turf was sown thick with 
arrowheads and domestic mementoes of the 
vanishing Indian. 

How to deal with the aborigines was a vexatious 
problem. The newly arrived white men found 
themselves between two fires; Canonicus in the 
Rhode Island territory was hostile to Massasoit 
in southern Massachusetts. The red men dwelling 
in this corner of the Atlantic seaboard were hardly 
more developed than the beavers building their 
dams along the rivers, the deer that migrated in 
families through the forests, or the colonies of 
crows holding caucus in the treetops. The Indian 
had made little advancement beyond the making 
of a bark canoe to cross the ponds; pointing his 
arrows with flint and eagle claws; baking clams in 
seaweed; fertilizing corn with fish; and curing skins 
of moose or wild cat to provide clothing and shel- 
ter. Along comes the white man, who proceeds to 
subjugate the four elements of air, earth, fire, and 
water, as vassals to do his work. He cuts down 
the primeval timber and fashions comfortable 

[23] 



Two Men of Taunton 



dwelling-houses (often with gambrel roof, in 
memory of the Pilgrims' sojourn in Holland); 
he harnesses the rivers to make nails, boards, 
and cider; he taxes the wind to turn sails for 
grinding corn into meal; he digs and smelts 
bog-ore into rude implements. With patient 
labor he converts the forests into pastures, the 
pastures into cattle, the cattle into beef, the beef 
into brawny arms to fell more forests and 
drive his enemies from the earth. These dis- 
coveries the red children of the forest had not 
dreamed of; even as those pioneers had no vision 
of our modern electric servants and aerial con- 
veyances. 

The red men were, for the most part, treated 
contemptuously by the white men as treacherous 
vermin. King Philip was persecuted with barbaric 
ferocity; the head of the Princess Weetamoe was 
displayed on a spontoon in Taunton to terrify 
Indian captives; Annawan, after his capture by 
the daring Captain Church, was taken to Ply- 
mouth and executed, in spite of Church's promise 
that his life should be spared if he surrendered 
without resistance. Yet there was some show of 
justice. Governor Bradford proudly recorded that 
every foot of the Old Colony had been paid for, 
though the Indians often sold their lands for a 
mess of pottage. Several white men were once 
hanged for the murder of an Indian, but we imag- 

[24 1 



The Old Colony Background 

ine these white men were "undesirable citizens" 
of the tiny republic. There was an attempt to 
Christianize the savages. Coadjutors with Eliot 

— Bourne and Treat, of the Cape, Mayhew, of 
Martha's Vineyard, and Danforth, of Taunton 

— were measurably successful, leading a large 
number of converts into semi-civilization, teach- 
ing them to get a poor living by farming and 
whaHng — the latter a not uncongenial sport. 
But praying Indians were a decadent race, and at 
Mashpee, Eastham, and Assawampsett aroused 
aknost as much suspicion as their unregenerate 
brothers. Having little regard for property rights, 
they walked into town and took what they needed 
without apology. Many became slaves; one, 
named " Quock," was long in the family of Ephraim 
Leonard. Miscegenation with the imported blacks 
produced a less savage but no less fierce-looking 
type of man. The Indians were more capable of 
adopting the white man's vices than his virtues. 
"Fire-water," first offered them on their meeting 
with Governor Carver, was much to their liking 
and contributed toward accelerating King Philip's 
War a few years later. Algonquins circled in the 
rear of the seaside settlements " like the scythe of 
death ready to mow them down at any moment." 
Scalping-knife and tomahawk brought dread 
alarm to young and old. Often the valiant house- 
wife sat in the crotch of a tree with loaded flintlock 

I 25] 



Two Men of Taunton 



to protect her husband's scalp as he hoed the grow- 
ing corn.i 

Sixty years of contention with the Indian- 
haunted wilderness made the Yankee wary, alert, 
rugged, strong, and skeptical. Tramping the 
woods and hills, laying stone walls criss-cross over 
the fields, hewing timbers, and swinging the flail, 
lengthened his arms and legs and evolved the 
prototype of Uncle Sam. He became homy- 
handed; and close-fisted as well, carefully storing 
away in the chimney whatever "pieces of eight" 
came to him in days when trade was mostly by 
barter. He held little reverence for the " slothful 
servant"; indeed, a canny pursuit of the "root of 
all evil" came to be his leading trait in the eyes of 
the British nation. 

On this tall, sun-browned, strong-jawed yeoman, 
whittling with his jack-knife notions of all sorts; 
salt-witted, self-contained, standing on his rights, 
content if not molested, — put a coonskin cap, 
galligaskins, cowhide boots, a quid of pig-tail in 
his cheek, and a picturesque buckskin coat con- 

* These Algonquins first used the word "Yankee." Having 
no "1" in their language, they could come no nearer to pro- 
nouncing the word "English" than "Yengeesh," which be- 
came corrupted into "Yankee." A towering, gigantic, iron 
statue of King Philip, with uplifted tomahawk and full savage 
regalia, should be erected on the summit of Mount Hope as 
a memorial tribute of the Yankee to the former tenants of this 
land, and an object lesson in history. 

[26] 



The Old Colony Background 

cealing the patch on his trousers, and you have a 
characteristic type of the dramatis persona of our 
stage when "Farmer George" became king. Up 
before sunrise, he toadied to no man; felt himself 
equal to princes; was acquisitive of property 
(often "land-poor"); he sat patiently through 
Fast Day sermons, and after candlelight played 
checkers and "Old Sledge" on a hogshead at the 
"store." All the King's horses and all the King's 
men could not drive him. He was filled with 
bitter resentment at foreign oppression. Holy 
water and papal bulls were special objects of his 
hatred. The Pope and the Devil were religiously 
burned on Guy Fawkes's Day.^ His nasal twang 
and drawl were aggravated by humming Watts's 
hymns. 

These Old Colony farmers, foresters, and fisher- 
men came together at town meetings, church 
gatherings, barn-raisings, auctions, turkey sup- 
pers, clambakes, and spelling-bees. They bred 
sheep, goats, swine, cattle; planted flax, wheat, 
turnips, corn, beans, and pumpkins ; tanned skins 
for boots; spun wool for their shirts; trimmed 
furs into caps, coats, and mittens; and became a 
self-reliant community. Ingenuity, thrift, and 
energy marked them. The sick, the insane, the 

^ Thomas Coram, of England, thought that the citizens of 
Taunton might never become enough civilized to appreciate 
an Episcopal church. 

[27] 



Two Men of Taunton 



deformed, the feeble-minded, and the decrepit 
were not segregated, but were a charge to the 
family, where their appearance may have dulled 
the edge of sympathy. It was a day of family gov- 
ernment, family amusement, family religion. 

Thomas Paine, in 1776, observed that a good 
portion of the first-Imported virtue was Inherited 
by the Revolutionary patriots. The standard of 
morality and high ideals was maintained among a 
learned ministry, to the third and fourth genera- 
tions, who knew not the Holland life or the graves 
of their English forbears. Constant reading of 
King James's Bible had developed the "New 
England conscience" always ready to fly "to the 
cause which needs assistance" or at "the wrong 
which needs resistance." These ministers, college- 
trained, self-searching, faithful servants of the 
Lord, compelled attendance on their lengthy 
sermons; and were careful to shape public 
opinion and to see that every child was taught to 
read, revere, and understand the Bible. But the 
common alma mater was the great University of 
the Back Woods. In their wild environment, the 
lack of higher education tended to produce a 
diff"erent race. Culture gave way to practical 
knowledge. 

The Pilgrims have been called the cream of the 
Puritans. Although the Mayflower company came 
from northern England, succeeding immigration 

[28] 



The Old Colony Background 

was largely from southwestern England. Often a 
shipload of immigrants would become the nucleus 
of a town named after their pastor's home. So we 
find Barnstable, Bristol, Dartmouth, Falmouth, 
Norton, Plympton, Taunton, Tiverton, Truro, 
Somerset, Swansea, Wareham, Yarmouth were 
names well loved by those old-country folk. The 
Pilgrim beliefs and customs predominated. Many 
were descendants of the Leyden church mem- 
bership. Every town had its Congregational 
minister to support. Men ostracized through 
religious controversy had sought shelter in the 
Plymouth Colony, each ready to defend his creed. 
Those who sought to quibble on theology could be 
" accommodated " in discussing the Halfway Cove- 
nant, the fate of infants unbaptized, the Inner 
Light, Vicarious Atonement, Foreordination, the 
use of the fiddle in church music, and whether the 
communion bread could be digested in the mate- 
rial body. Baptists settled at Rehoboth, Swan- 
sea, and Bristol; Quakers increased at Dartmouth. 
Heresy of the Old World became orthodoxy in 
the New. Calvinism was the backbone of the 
religious thought. Protracted fasts and vigils 
produced visions and weird revelations; but the 
" Witchcraft Delusion" never carried the natives 
completely off their mental centre. During the 
periodical "revivals," the excitement rose to the 
pitch of throwing off coats, screaming in ecstatic 

[29] 



Two Men of Taunton 



prayer, and committing other strange antics in the 
name of a calm and gentle Christ; but mental 
equilibrium was restored before such inhuman 
excesses were committed as at Boston and Salem. 
Godly and ungodly mingled together. "Home 
missionaries" were kept alive and active, by un- 
regenerates who went fishing Sunday, cheated in 
"hoss" trades, chewed tobacco, swore on small 
provocation, smuggled, played cards for shillings, 
and too often came under the Circean spell of new 
rum and hard cider. 

The third and fourth generations, risen from the 
soil, were a robust, toddy-drinking race, of ani- 
mal nature, ever ready for a fight, whether with 
the red man or in a foolhardy expedition to cap- 
ture the citadel at Louisburg, where, the story goes, 
they chased the flying cannon balls of the enemy 
to fire them back again before they became cold. 
The " unregenerates " had been taught by the 
genius loci to take their fun in boisterous horse- 
play. Saturday afternoons, the rustic plough- 
jogger from Bearhole, Slab Ridge, Tea rail, Hock- 
amock, Rocky Woods, Great Meadow Hill, Happy 
Hollow, or Squawbetty, hitched up "Old Dobbin" 
and drove "daoun to Ta'nt'n" with his brown 
jug under the seat. If it was summer, he stuck 
antlers of indigo weed above his horse's ears to 
keep off hungry flies, and the "yaller dog " trotted 
under the wagon on which poultry may have found 

[30] 



The Old Colony Background 

a lodging for the night. If it was winter, he rode 
in a pung, with moth-eaten w^olf robe flying tails 
over its back, and the dog curled about his mas- 
ter's kip boots. During the afternoon he swapped 
"hosses," had a trotting-match, cock-fight, dog- 
fight, or raffle; and tumbled about the Green in 
bacchanalian single combat in settlement of old 
scores; then rode home singing convivial songs, 
and flinging melon-rinds, lobster-claws, or oyster- 
shells along the way. 

At Bristol, the prosperous seaport town, slaves, 
brought from Africa and Guinea, were sold by 
slave-traders coming down from Boston. A brisk 
trade with the Carolinas, New York, and the West 
Indies was carried on by Taunton, Somerset, 
Bristol, Dartmouth, and Yarmouth. The build- 
ing of vessels was a main source of wealth; sloops 
of thirty tons made their way up the rivers and 
inlets, with cargoes of wheat from the Hudson, 
rice and potatoes from the Carolinas, and sugar 
and molasses from the West Indies. When the 
fierce " northeasters " rocked the houses and lashed 
the surf along the shore, prayers went up at many 
firesides for the absent sailor-boy at sea. Iron was 
forged from bog-ore; bricks were made from clay- 
pits ; furs were a source of revenue to every farmer's 
boy, who sent the polecat's skin across the sea, to 
be worn in France as ermine. Bears and wolves 
ranged the swamps, and the forests were tenanted 

[31 ] 



Two Men of Taunton 



by otter, mink, wild cats, and raccoons, as well as 
rabbits, chucks, and chipmucks. As late as 1790 
wolves were flooded out of a Raynham swamp 
by a ditch from Taunton River. Wellfleet and 
New Bedford were catching whales, though whale 
fishing was not at its best until the early nine- 
teenth century. The wealth of the seas was always 
a large part of the income of Old Colony settlers. 
Codfish and mackerel were important exports; 
"codfish aristocracy" came to be a term of re- 
proach. 

Taunton was settled from Somerset and Devon- 
shire Counties of England. Some Welsh from 
Swansea had given the old name to their new 
home. Kidnapped Acadians were heartlessly set 
down near Lakeville and elsewhere by Colonel 
Winslow. In Bridgewater were ironworkers among 
whom the Leonards were foremost. They were an 
everyday lot of people, with big families, plain 
wooden houses, well-filled barns, and many stone 
walls, which testify to generations of lumbago. 
Few had means to live without constant toil. 
There was a little aristocracy — the Winslows at 
Plymouth, the Edsons at Bridgewater, the Leon- 
ards at Taunton. Troy — now the busy city of Fall 
River — was but a scattered hamlet. Money was 
the rarest commodity among the earlier colonists; 
they had not enough to pay five hundred pounds 
for their royal charter. Once their credit was saved 

[32] 



The Old Colony Background 

by the accidental meeting of some Englishmen 
wrecked on the coast, who brought a little ready 
cash. The Boston Puritans, increased in wealth by 
the continual arrival of immigrants, grew haughty 
and intolerant to the extent of hanging witches and 
Quakers; whereas the Plymouth Pilgrims, in the 
humility which comes from poverty, welcomed 
Roger Williams, exiled from Salem and Boston, 
and bore with Quaker peculiarities. We may 
remember, however, to its credit, that while the 
Province of Massachusetts was under British 
law, capital offences were fewer than in England, 
and were not so harshly punished. At Boston, 
men believed in freedom; but to think and do 
as the Bostonians did — that was freedom. In 
Plymouth Colony, they were so poor that if one be- 
haved " tolable well," he could enjoy full liberty. 

Through these years the Yankee had been work- 
ing out his salvation with native shrewdness. 
Opinions were hardening in his head on the ques- 
tion of civil freedom and human rights. Ever 
looking for a new idea, he sat whittling in the barn 
door, chewing tobacco and pondering right and 
wrong, until he concluded that the town ought not 
to be taxed to pay the minister, that Church and 
State were separate institutions, and that there 
should be no taxation without representation in 
Parliament. 

Both Paine and Leonard descended from these 

[33] 



Two Men of Taunton 



stout-hearted Anglo-Saxon pioneers, who, cut off 
from Old-World influence, started anew upon their 
interpretation of the Scriptures and human ex- 
perience, retaining the kernel but discarding the 
husk of English government, along with what 
seemed to them the accumulated wrongs and 
fallacies of Lords and Bishops. Preserving a 
sacred reverence for their old homes, they studied 
to make this new government simple, direct, sub- 
stantial, founded on duty, and reliance upon God. 
The corner stone was the Bible. The town meet- 
ing was developed and perfected, — a democracy 
where rich and poor could meet together in equal- 
ity. After a century and a half of brave labor in 
pursuit of such ideals, they had almost forgotten 
England, and felt qualified to set up for them- 
selves. "Freedom to worship God" was the 
watch-cry in 1620 at Plymouth; "Liberty and 
Union" the motto on the flag at Taunton in 

1775. 
Thomas Paine, great-grandfather of Robert 

Treat Paine, had been a fisherman on Cape Cod, 
and Thomas Leonard, great-grandfather of Daniel 
Leonard, had dug valuable ore from the bosom of 
the Old Colony. After the colony was divided 
into counties, the two men sat together as Depu- 
ties at Plymouth in 1689. Thomas Leonard was 
appointed a justice to hold the Court of Common 
Pleas in Bristol County, and James Paine, son of 

[34] 




-K-/^< 



/ft>/2.^ 



V^'"^ ^<^^ 



The Old Colony Background 

Thomas and grandfather of our Robert, became a 
justice in Barnstable County. 

Francis BayHes, in his scholarly memoirs, says 
of the Plymouth Colony citizens : 

. . . That curse of all small and independent 
communities, political ambition, found no place 
amongst them. The higher offices were not sought, 
but the services of such as were fit to sustain them 
were demanded, as the right of the people, and they 
were accepted, not for the sake of distinction, emolu- 
ment, or pleasure, but from the sense of duty. Fear- 
ful of the loss of reputation, men underwent the 
severe and painful duties which such offices required. 
Where there was no strife for position, no temptation 
in the shape of emolument, and no passion for offi- 
cial distinction, small was the danger of feuds and 
factions. 

Then, if we find Thomas, George, and Ephraim 
Leonard, Thomas and James Paine holding high 
office, we may know they were men "fit to sus- 
tain them." 

Democratic Plymouth was much aggrieved to 
be amalgamated in 1692 with the aristocratic 
Massachusetts Bay Colony. This conjunction de- 
stroyed the political consequence of Plymouth, 
and the claims of the elder but humbler colony 
were little regarded. At that time the population 
of the Old Colony was 13,000, including reds, 
whites, and blacks; by 1775, the whites had in- 

[35 ] 



Two Men of Taunton 



creased to 26,656, and there were about 600 each 
of blacks and reds. 

At the outbreak of the Revolution, the Old Col- 
ony was politically divided. The eastern county, 
Plymouth, had many sympathizers with England, 
as had also Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket, 
while Bristol County was largely Whig. Two 
eminent leaders of these factions were our heroes, 
Leonard and Paine, who played their parts in 
Taunton because of a blunder made by Charles II. 
The patent of 1629, from the Plymouth Council 
of London to the Plymouth Colony, granted juris- 
diction over the land from Cape Cod to Narragan- 
sett River as the western boundary. The charter 
of 1663, to Rhode Island, from Charles II, granted 
title to the land three miles to the eastward of 
Narragansett River. Thus there was a strip of 
land, three miles wide, lying east of this river, 
which had been granted to two colonies. People 
from Rhode Island, mostly Baptists, had settled 
this strip, but were under Plymouth rule and sent 
delegates to the Plymouth General Court, They 
recognized the sovereignty of Plymouth, but the 
royal confirmation of the title to the land (granted 
by the Plymouth Council of London to the Pil- 
grims) was given to Rhode Island. When Massa- 
chusetts effected the coalition with Plymouth, 
Rhode Island pressed her claim to the disputed 
land, but was unsuccessful at that time. 

[36] 



The Old Colony Background 

In 1685, Plymouth Colony had been divided, 
like Gaul, into three parts, — one named Bristol 
County after a prosperous seaport town in the 
disputed territory. At this Bristol, the courts 
were held, and thither went Ephraim Leonard, 
James Paine, and other "common-sense lawyers" 
to adjust local differences. The natives there 
considered themselves a part of Massachusetts, 
but Rhode Island (at her best pinched for terri- 
tory) was jealous, and a dispute began about this 
strip of land. The two colonies could not agree, 
and at length, in 1741, George II appointed a 
commission of three — one member from the 
Province of Nova Scotia, one from New York, 
and one from New Jersey — to settle this bound- 
ary question. Massachusetts had been a way- 
ward child to the mother government; her case 
was prejudiced, and the commissioners recognized 
Rhode Island's claim as valid. 

In 1746, Rhode Island claimed all Fall River 
and Assonet as far as Somerset; her claim was 
granted in part. A line about three miles east 
of Narragansett Bay was made the boundary. 
Massachusetts, in her indignation, refused to pay 
her half of the surveying costs, which caused fur- 
ther litigation. This territory ceded to Rhode 
Island included Tiverton, Westport, and the 
shire town of Bristol; hence the remaining Bristol 
County in Massachusetts contained neither the 

[ 37] 



Two Men of Taunton 



town of Bristol nor a court-house. Taunton, an 
inland town, had grown to be much larger than 
Bristol; was thriving, and central in the dismem- 
bered county; and consequently became the loca- 
tion of a new court-house in 1747. Samuel White, 
the leading lawyer in Taunton, was appointed 
King's Attorney, rather than Ephraim or George 
Leonard, who were old residents of Norton. When 
this transfer was legally made, the inhabitants 
of Bristol were loath to part with the records, and 
tradition says they were secured for Taunton by 
strategy of George Leonard and other lawyers. 

After Taunton became the shire town, many 
justices gathered there in the days when law was 
growing in importance as an attractive calling for 
energetic, clear-headed, ambitious young men. 
Thus Paine and Leonard were naturally drawn 
to the court-house, and no one can fully grasp the 
story of the Old Colony who is not familiar with 
the career of these two men who focussed much 
history in their lives, in those stirring times when 
questions of the Prerogative of the Crown versus 
local rights were finally decided. 



Chapter II 
A Brahmin Pedigree 

His tribe were God Almighty's gentlemen. 

Dryden 

SAFE behind the "clenched fist of Massachu- 
setts," the Pilgrim fathers boldly drafted 
the "Mayflower Compact" in rebuke of the 
despotism of Church and State, now left beyond 
the seas. This Compact and the Declaration 
of Independence are two preeminent documents 
which have inspired the American people to deeds 
of courage, freedom, and glory. Among the signa- 
tures to the covenant drafted by the liberty-seek- 
ing immigrants in Provincetown Harbor is that of 
Stephen Hopkins. After the Pilgrims had founded 
Plymouth, this Hopkins went with Edward Win- 
slow on an exploring expedition — the first white 
persons to leave a description of the Indian resort 
known as Cohannet, which lies in the shoulder 
blade of the defiant Cape. Cohannet, a few years 
later, received from English settlers the name of 
Taunton. Our Paine, living in Taunton and de- 
scended from Stephen Hopkins, was the sole resi- 
dent of Plymouth Colony among the signers of 
the Declaration.^ 

* From the adjoining plantation of Rhode Island came another 
signer with tremulous autograph directly descended from the 
same Stephen Hopkins. 

[39] 



Two Men of Taunton 



As the Epic of the Leonard family is strongly 
colored with iron, so through the Epic of the Paine 
family runs a distinct theological thread. To use 
the phrase of Holmes,^ Robert was of "Brahmin 
ancestry." By easy genealogical leaps, we come 
down his line from one clergyman to another. His 
father, Thomas, was minister at Weymouth; his 
grandmother on his mother's side had married two 
ministers, Mr. Esterbrook first, and later, Rev. 
Samuel Treat. Paine's maternal great-grand- 
father. Rev. Samuel Willard, was pastor of the 
Old South Church in Boston; and was acting 
president of Harvard College from 1701 to 1707; 
his paternal great-great-grandfather was Rev. 
Anthony Thatcher. Besides being a scion of the 
clergy, his pedigree discloses an added strain of 
blue blood in the names of Robert Treat, Gov- 
ernor of Connecticut, and Major Willard, another 
famous Indian fighter. 

The pioneer, Thomas Paine, came to America in 
1622, bringing a son, Thomas, then ten years old, 
who had lost an eye at archery practice in Eng- 
land. This Thomas, Junior, lived on Cape Cod 
until his ninety-fourth year, preserving his re- 
maining eye intact from Indian arrows through 
King Philip's War. He married Mary, daughter 
of Nicholas Snow, whose wife was daughter of 
Stephen Hopkins. The elder immigrant, Thomas, 

^ Elsie Venner. 

[40] 



A Brahmin Pedigree 



settled at Yarmouth, but his one-eyed son moved 
to Eastham, and was parent of seven sons, from 
one of whom, John, was descended the wandering 
playwright, John Howard Payne, who touched all 
hearts with his tender song: "Be it ever so hum- 
ble, there's no place like home."^ 

James, the sixth son of Thomas Paine, went up 
to Barnstable, was appointed justice, accumulated 
property and lands, married Bethiah Thatcher, 
and erected a substantial farmhouse, carefully 
tarring the mortise-holes against decay. This 
ancestral resort was the boyhood delight of our 
Robert, who sailed, an unhappy voyager, across 
the bay from Boston each summer to visit his 
Aunt Mary Freeman, who had Inherited the es- 
tate. Bethiah was the fourth child of Colonel John 
Thatcher, and granddaughter of Rev. Anthony 
Thatcher, who holds a place In history because of 
his frightful shipwreck on an Island dotting the 
point of Cape Ann, and known to this day as 
"Thatcher's Woe." 2 

* This song-writer thought the name looked more "select" 
spelled with a "y," an opinion embraced by others of the 
family. Among the numerous spellings of the Signer's name, 
on bills contracted at the Continental Congress, is one sent to 
"Mr. Traitpain," which intimates that he was hailed by his 
familiar cronies as "Treat." 

2 The spar of land was granted to him by the colony on ac- 
count of his "providential rescue." He had set sail with his 
family from Cape Cod for Cape Ann in 1635, when a storm 
drove the ship on the rocks. He and his wife reached shore, but 

[41 ] 



Two Men of Taunton 



John Thatcher, father of Bethiah, was married 
in 1 66 1 to Rebecca Winslow, and while on the 
way to Falmouth with his bride, he stopped for 
the night at the house of Colonel Gorham at 
Barnstable. During the merry conversation with 
the newly-married couple (so the story goes), a 
baby girl, a few days old, was introduced, and the 
night of her birth mentioned to Mr. Thatcher, 
who observed that it was on the very night he was 
married. Taking the infant in his arms, he pre- 
sented her to his bride, saying: "Here, my dear, is 
a little lady born on the same night we were mar- 
ried; I wish you would kiss her, for I intend to have 
her for my second wife." "I will, my dear, but 
I hope it will be long before your intention is ful- 
filled." Then, taking the babe, the bride kissed it 
heartily and returned it to the nurse's hands. The 
jesting prediction was eventually verified. Mr. 
Thatcher's wife died, and the child, arrived at the 
age of twenty-three, actually became his second 
wife. 

For a century, this family knew the perils and 
privations of Cape Cod life. The descendants of 
Thomas Paine intermarried also with the Doane, 
Freeman, Sparrow, Hopkins, and Winslow fami- 
lies, good, sturdy folk, long identified with the 

their children were drowned before their eyes. Later children 
came and their granddaughter was grandmother to Robert, the 
Signer. 

[42] 



A Brahmin Pedigree 



Cape, the fish-hook shape of which symboHzed the 
profession of many of its residents. The greatest 
of all hunting sports — whale-chasing — supplied, 
sooner or later, some exciting adventure to almost 
every native of Cape Cod. Concerning James 
Paine, his son Thomas wrote of a whaling expedi- 
tion off Cape Cod as follows: 

November, 17 17. My father, being in a whale 
bote, was struck Immediately by a whale on the neck 
and head, and the bote being stove, he was about 
drowned before any one could find him, but we 
afterward carried him home and he is wonderfully 
recovered. 

For years Cape Cod was the mother of sea- 
captains. Skippers from Harwich, Truro, Dennis, 
and Barnstable were spinning yarns and "splicing 
the main brace" in every port of the globe. On 
the decks of many a fleet schooner was a keen-eyed 
pilot from those sandy shores. These captains 
followed the sea through the summer, setting lob- 
ster pots and "smelling" for blue-fish, and went 
courting in the snug winter. The women, with 
eyes narrov/ed and dim from long search of the 
ofiing, set up flapping coats and sails on posts 
and waved red handkerchiefs, as signals to their 
jackies passing by oflFshore. 

Thomas, son of James, was born at Barnstable 
in 1694. There he lived until he went up to Har- 
vard College for the class of 171 7, destined, like 

[43 ] 



Two Men of Taunton 



most of his classmates, to the ministry. Upon his 
appearance at Harvard, he was a thoroughbred 
Cape Cod Yankee, salt and sandy. Followers of 
the sea study the moon, stars, tides, and weather- 
breeding signs. So we are not surprised to find 
this studious Thomas printing almanacs "of celes- 
tial motions, aspects, eclipses, etc.," for the years 
1718 and 1719, which were a joy to the embryo 
"Poor Richard," then a young, inquisitive boy in 
his brother's printing-shop at Boston.^ 

Thomas Paine studied with Rev. Nathaniel 
Shaw, of Harwich, attended the Thursday Lec- 
tures in Boston for a couple of years, preached 
itinerantly, and was shortly ordained as minister 
at Weymouth at ninety pounds a year, with a par- 
sonage and forty acres of land as perquisite. In 
1 72 1, he married the delicately beautiful daughter 
of Rev, Samuel Treat, of Eastham, then living with 
her widowed mother in Boston. She was just 
"sweet sixteen" when a mounted troop escorted 
the bridal party out to the parsonage at Wey- 
mouth, where Rev. Peter Thatcher performed the 
wedding ceremony. They lived a few years In the 
parsonage at Weymouth, but the wife and mother 

^ One announces the times for holding the courts, the spring 
tides and prophetic aspects of the weather; foretells four in- 
visible eclipses; but makes no prediction of the great earthquake 
of 1725. On the back page is a statement of reasons why the 
light of the moon is so weak that it cannot, even by a burning- 
glass, be brought to afford the least degree of heat. 

[44] 



A Brahmin Pedigree 



was semi-invalid, and the place did not prove 
salubrious. She returned to Boston, where she 
died October 17, 1747. Her husband continued 
to preach awhile in Weymouth, until his inher- 
ited property led him into trade. He had come 
into a good estate, some £7000, by the death of 
father, brother-in-law, and wife. General merchan- 
dise became his business. He bought and sold 
all sorts of commodities, especially West India 
goods, then an eminently respectable calling. 
After his daughter Abigail married Joseph Green- 
leaf, Father Paine's vessels took rope, staves, 
salt-fish, brick, and meal to Havana, returning 
with cargoes of molasses and sugar to be converted 
into rum by the new son-in-law in his distillery. 
Thomas Paine was a heavy loser in the Land Bank 
of 1740, suppressed by the British Government. 
During the French War of 1745, some of his ves- 
sels were captured by pirates. In 1749, when his 
fortunes were in a precarious condition, he deeded 
his slave "Cato" (for slavery did not shock the 
moral sense even of ministers) to his daughter 
Abigail, and his books, silver plate, and household 
furniture to his three children. Afterward he 
established an agency in Halifax. But his health 
broke down and he went on a long sea-voyage. 
When his business affairs became involved in liti- 
gation, he concluded to become a lawyer, advising 
his son to do likewise, that they might keep out of 

[45] 



Two Men of Taunton 



the courts and protect their remaining property. 
Their legal preceptor was Benjamin Pratt, of 
Boston, later Chief Justice of New York. Father 
and son, sharpening their talons on each other, 
pored over the English law-books and held mock 
arguments on winter evenings. Improvident as 
a merchant, in 1756 Thomas Paine's estate was 
finally compounded. After the breaking-up of his 
home upon the death of wife and mother-in-law, 
the marriage of Abigail, and the departure of his 
son, Robert, to teach at Lunenburg, he dwelt alter- 
nately in Halifax and with his married daughter 
at Germantown, in Quincy, where he died in 1757. 
On the maternal side, Paine, the Signer, came 
of a high-born family. His great-grandfather, 
Robert Treat, was Governor of Connecticut. His 
epitaph, copied by his namesake into a daybook, 
reads : 

Palmam qui meruit ferat. 

Here lieth the body of Robert Treat, Esq., who 
faithfully served this colony in the post of governor 
and deputy governor for near the space of thirty 
years, and at the age of fourscore and eight exchanged 
this life for a better. July 12 anno Domino 17 10. 

Major Robert Treat had marched up to North- 
field in 1676, and found his former comrades mas- 
sacred by Indians and their heads gruesomely 

[46I 




PURITAN GOVERNOR OF CONNECTICUT 



A Brahmin Pedigree 



mounted upon poles along his advance. A 
spicy story of his courtship is preserved. When 
the major went visiting his friend, Squire Tapp, 
of Millis, he found the apple of his eye in the rosy- 
cheeked daughter, Jane, and presently was trotting 
her upon his knee. Jane coyly observed, "I'd 
rather be treated than trotted.''^ A hearty laugh 
spread through the family circle; and so they were 
married and lived happy ever after, — at least if 
children could make them so, for twenty-one, all 
told, were born to them. The first of the twenty- 
one was Rev. Samuel Treat, who became one of 
the stalwart men of Cape Cod. Soon after grad- 
uating from Harvard in 1669, he settled as minis- 
ter of the church at Eastham, of which Thomas 
Prince, the Governor, was the leading spirit. In 
1662, the town agreed that part of every whale 
cast ashore should be appropriated for the minis- 
try, "thus leaving," as Thoreau remarked, "the 
support of the ministers to Providence, whose 
servants they are, and who alone rules the storms, 
for when few whales were cast up, they might sus- 
pect that their worship was not acceptable." The 
Rev. Mr. Treat must have sat upon the cliffs and 
watched the strand with some anxiety.^ 

* Thoreau also says of Treat*. "He was not one of those who, 
by giving up or explaining away, becomes like a porcupine dis- 
armed of his quills; but a consistent Calvinist, who can dart out 
his quills at a distance and courageously defend himself." 

[47] 



Two Men of Taunton 



A contemporary writer says that "his voice 
could be heard roaring above the sobs of hysterical 
women, and the howling winds, stirring up an 
awakening and alarm." Hysteric fits were very 
common on Sunday in the time of divine service. 
When one woman was so affected, others generally 
sympathized with her, and the congregation was 
thrown into violent confusion. We may gather 
something of Treat's spiritual comfort in the fol- 
lowing selection from his sermons : 



Text: Luke xvi, 23 : Thou must go ere long to the 
bottomless pit. Hell hath enlarged himself and is 
ready to receive thee. There is room enough for thy 
entertainment. Consider thou art going to a place 
prepared by God on purpose to exalt his justice in a 
place made for no other purpose than torments. Hell 
is God's house of correction, and remember that God 
doeth all things like himself. When God would show 
his justice, and the might of his wrath, he makes a 
hell in which it shall indeed appear to purpose. Woe 
to thy soul, when thou shalt be set up as a butt for 
the arrows of the Almighty. 

Sinner, I beseech thee realize the truth of these 
things. Do not go about to dream that this is deroga- 
tory to God's mercy and nothing but a vain fable to 
scare children out of their wits withal. God can be 
merciful, though he makes thee miserable. He shall 
have monuments enough of that precious attribute, 
shining like stars in that place of glory, and singing 

[48] 



A Brahmin Pedigree 



eternalhallelujahsto the praise of Him that redeemed 
them; though to exalt the power of his justice, he 
damns sinners heaps upon heaps. 

Consider, God himself shall be the principal agent 
in thy misery, his breath is the bellows that blows up 
the flames of hell forever; and if he punish thee, if he 
meet thee in his fury, he will not meet thee as a man, 
he will give thee an omnipotent blow. 

Some think sinning ends with this life; but it is a 
mistake. The creature is held under an everlasting 
law; the damned increase in sin and hell. Possibly 
the mention of this may please thee, but remember 
that there shall be no pleasant sins there, no eat- 
ing, singing, dancing, drinking, wanton dalliance, and 
drinking stolen waters; but damned sins, bitter hell- 
ish sins, sins exasperated by torments, cursing God, 
spite, rage and blasphemy, the guilt of all thy sins 
shall be laid upon thy soul and be made so many 
heaps of fuel. 

Samuel Treat had settled at Eastham in 1672, 
and was soon converting Indians as well as whites. 
In this he was assisted by the General Court which 
passed a law, in 1685, to inflict corporal punish- 
ment on all persons who denied the Scriptures. 
He translated his confession of faith into the Nau- 
set language. There were two thousand Indians 
in his pastoral charge, whom he visited in their 
huts, readily conversing with them in the native 
tongue. He died during the great snow-fall of 

[49] 



Two Men of Taunton 



February, 1717.^ Treat's burial was a mortuary- 
tableau. The deep snow had swirled around the 
parsonage, towering in lofty drifts. An arch- 
way in the snow was dug on the road between 
the house and the burial-ground; through this, 
Indians, who had loved him in life, bore him to his 
last resting-place in the God's Acre on the hillside, 
within sound of the eternal requiem of the sea.^ 

The wife of Samuel Treat was Eunice, daughter 
of Rev. Samuel Willard. The Willards had settled 
in the neighborhood of Concord, Lancaster, and 
Groton. Major Simon Willard, son of Josiah, was, 
like Major Treat, a hero in the old Indian wars. 
In 1676, at the age of threescore and ten, he made 
a thirty-mile dash from Lancaster, arriving at 
Brookfield in time to save the town from the red- 
skins. The son of this Indian fighter was Samuel 
Willard, pastor of the Old South Church. In 1701, 
the General Court elected him acting president of 
Harvard College to succeed Increase Mather, who 
declined to make a residence in Cambridge, pre- 
ferring to stay in the thick of theological frays at 
Boston. Willard's successive wives had fine Bibli- 

^ At this time Richard Williams, the first white child born 
in Taunton, died, remaining three weeks unburied because of 
the overwhelming storm. 

^ In the company of those gathered at Mr. Treat's funeral 
was the son of a woman who had been fined ten shillings for 
railing at him, the minister. Nature has a way of shaming 
our animosities — her son later married Treat's daughter. 

[so] 



A Brahmin Pedigree 



cal names, Abigail (wife of Nabal), and Eunice 
(mother of Timothy). A cut in the hand while 
opening oysters resulted in lockjaw of which he 
died in 1707. 

After his marriage with the daughter of Mr. 
Willard, Samuel Treat was sometimes invited 
to preach in his father-in-law's pulpit. Samuel 
Willard had a graceful delivery and dramatic 
voice, and his sermons display strength of thought 
and energy of language. In consequence, he was 
generally admired. Mr. Treat, having preached 
one of his best sermons to the congregation of his 
father-in-law in his usual unhappy manner, excited 
adverse comment and a committee waited upon 
Mr. Willard to beg that Mr. Treat (a worthy, 
pious man, but a wretched preacher) might never 
be invited to his pulpit again. Willard quietly 
went to his son-in-law, and borrowed the discourse, 
which he delivered to his people a few weeks later. 
The deacons thanked Mr. Willard and requested 
copies for the press. "See the difference," they 
cried, "between yourself and your son-in-law. 
You have preached a sermon on the same text as 
Mr. Treat, but while his was contemptible, yours 
was excellent." 

With this brief outline of his lineage, we wel- 
come our hero himself. Two sons had come to 
Rev. Thomas Paine, only to die in a few days. 
Then one fine spring morning in 1731, he took 
[SI] 



Two Men of Taunton 



another newly-born child down School Street to 
the Old South Church, praying that this boy 
might be spared. As the child was dandled in his 
father's arms, crying for liberty at the top of his 
lungs. Parson Prince laid his christening hand on 
the infant patriot, in the same church in which, 
a quarter of a century before, Ben Franklin had 
been christened in the arms of his father, Josiah. 



Chapter III 
Land of the Leonards 

Crowns are for the valiant — sceptres for the bold, 
Thrones and powers for mighty men who dare to take and hold. 
"Nay," said the Baron, kneeling in his hall, 
"But Iron — cold iron — is master of them all." 

Kipling. 

A SMALL iron pot, capable of containing 
about one quart" was the initial output of 
the iron industry in America. This humble 
ancestor of the American Steel Trust was cast at a 
foundry on Saugus River, near Lynn, before 1650, 
and is still in existence, heavy enough to make 
three in the hands of a modern founder. The 
power behind the pot was no less a personage than 
John Winthrop, Jr., who furnished the " influence " 
which started the forge at "Hammersmith," as 
they named the location near Saugus Centre, 
where mounds of slag and scoria may still be seen. 
There had been a discovery of iron, in 1585, on 
Roanoke Island, and the Jamestown settlers sent 
over to England, in 1608, enough "iron oare" to 
make seventeen tons of metal, worth four pounds 
per ton. Soon expert workmen were brought from 
England, to establish a "bloomery," but an 
Indian massacre terminated the enterprise. 
In a Lynn account-book of 165 1 is this entry: 
[S3 ] 



Two Men of Taunton 



James Leonnarde, 15 days worke about finnerey 
chimneye and other worke in ye forge, 1:13:0. To 
ditto Leonnarde for dressing his bellows 3 times, 
1:10: o. 

This James Leonard is the real father of our 
American iron industry, since he persevered in 
that calling, and his foundries were perpetuated 
for centuries. He did not remain long at Saugus. 
Adam Hawkes, from whose bog the ore was ex- 
tracted, was litigious. His suits for flowage of his 
lands put an end to the Lynn undertaking. James 
and Henry Leonard then went to Braintree, still 
in the service of Winthrop.^ These two brothers 
had left Pontypool, Wales, for America, in the 
middle of the seventeenth century, bringing 
with them a boy, Thomas, son of James, and leav- 
ing their ironworks at home plastered with mort- 
gages. Seeking new opportunity in a new coun- 
try, they brought a knowledge of English farming 
and of the Bible, as well as of ironmaking. From 
Braintree they explored the Old Colony, where 
they found the inhabitants extracting a scanty 
living from the niggardly soil. With their spades, 
tongs, and hammers they went up and down the 
streams testing the water for chalybeate signs, 
while little Thomas cut a birch sapling and 
dropped a line for trout. Far-seeing men were 

^ Henry later removed to New Jersey. 

[54] 



An ELEGY in Memory cf the Worfhipful 



LMajor Thomas Leonard Efq. 

Of Taantm in t^tw-EngUnJ ; Wlio departed this Life on the i^tli. Day of Hmetnltr, 
^nHo Dtxi'i' 1715- In the j^d. Year of his Age. 



'E do aficmbic diat a Funeral 



^ 



For many Years, the chief Affairs in Town 



\/\/ ^'ich grief and forrow \vc may ^ Prudential, lie manag'd carefully 

folemnizc, K- Wi:h good Acceptance, unto his Renown 

V> iicrcat 'tis proper, that to mind wc call £^ Perlorm'd his Truft in all things faithfu 



The Grcarncls of our Lofs ; the qualities 
And Ufefulncfs of our dccealed Friend, 
Vi'hofc Pilgrimage on Earth is at an end. 

Envy and Malice muft be reigning Vices 

In tliofc who will not bear to hear his Praifc ; 

ToSpc.ik well of the Dead, true Gr.iccadvires ; 

.'TisBalcnefs thatRcproach on Inch doth railc. 

Such jufiiy may expcci Retaliation | 

Who uo bcgrutch to othcrsCommcndation. ; 

Tho' I pretend no f;kill in Poetry, 

Vet will adventure once to Mourn in Vctfc ] 
R::hcr than I'ach a Worthy,deaJ ihould ly 
U'lthout a due Encomium on his Hcrlc ; 
Grief will iind \cnt, k Fulncfsof affcAion 
How to cxprel's ourlchcs will give di- I 

( region. PfS. 

Let's fira rcniark,That GOD Ihould him incline 

In's early day^ to try with all his might 
tor skill to U'rue & Cypher, 111 a time 
When other? (inr/!ijluchicjr),';»i; did but (light; 
Yc: he redeem u h:. 7 irie moft carefully 
And made m sLcarmnLj.rood.proiicicncy. 

^OD!,;,:iivii,isCarc;-. : 

'^ itii little help I'rom - 
''liCKinhc ou;-li;onc '■ ,, ' 

l-'rc:'crmcnt in the To.vii, Eiiccni, i,oou V.'i.. ; 
Irn-i meaner Foils made <;r,adu3l Alccnt 



' i;ci. '^nc W Qj.'id^^, With co.nipaihon ili.i. 

This- did the Love of all to him prt^curi- 

Many Confers, his kmdncls did a'^iound 

by helpfulT.;-', unic 'ni', Neighbours round. I 



hfully; 
So that thcGovernour did him prefer 
In Military Trufls a,part to bear ; 

And in the Civil Government he flood 

Comminioncd, to Punifli Vice and Sin,' 
For many Years; His Care and Prudence good 

And^Faithfulncfs were well difplay d therein. 
He always (hcw'd Pacifick dil'pofition, 
Trying to end all jarr s by Compofition. 

He gave himklf to GOD in's Yoiithful days 

Profclsd Religion ; and his Family 
Were well Inllrudicd, Pray'd with all always 
His good Example uas before chcir Eye. 
His Pray'rs were heard, hij Houlc ( the 

Lord be Praisd ) 
With hopeful numerous Offspring GOD 
hath rais d. 



,,y ),; 



GOD prant that all of Ins Pcfie 

May imuate Ins A'irrues, .'.nj ni 

HisGODflullbcourGOD, Hin 

Wc 1 5cr\o until our Lal't ;ind Dyi:ig c.y : 
And never will cur Fathers GOD torlakc ; 
lij; rcrcurGO;)r:ic,i.:yA;;:Himtakc. 

Hi-- '. :•::•.- ■ J-': ,i;rcat Care 

T,,.r (. . ■ ' , , . MuiiUry 

In Ncritr,, Di^itcn, OiUii 1 .-v-es near 
On good Foundations might Setlcd be : 
He loy d in Hope, that now were laid 

Fou.ndations 
Of Picry for many Generations. 

/5f.'.?K! Ctmfcjtit ; 

SAMLEL D.iNfORTH 



ELEGY OF THOMAS LEON.\RD, 1713 



Land of the Leonards 



they! Beneath the surface they detected traces of 
iron ; and quietly thought, " Let the farmers plough 
the meadows ; we will dig into the neglected slashes 
and find wealth the natives dream not of." 

In the records of Taunton, October 21, 1652, it 
appears that the town made a contract with these 
Leonards and a certain Ralph Russell, to "set up a 
Bloomery Work on the Two Mile River." A stock 
company was soon formed. The subscribers paid 
in from five to twenty pounds apiece. Among the 
shareholders in this earliest stock company of 
Taunton are listed Elizabeth Pole, who bought 
Taunton for a peck of beans, and her sister, Jane, 
as well as nearly all the leading heads of families. 
Other distinguished stockholders from distant 
towns were later added ; which goes to show that 
iron stocks were considered sound family invest- 
ments as early as the middle of the seventeenth 
century. 

The boy Thomas, under his father's teaching, 
grew to be the Tubal-Cain of this locality. 

" Amid the forge's clangor, and the flames 
Sparkling from smitten anvils, boldly wrought 
A bright-eyed boy. 
His hand was hard with toil, 
But his clear mind o'er field of thought roamed wide, 
Gathering the fruits of knowledge. Thus he grew, 
Winning the true nobility that waits 
On honest labor." 

[ss 1 



Two Men of Taunton 



Thomas Leonard established forges and smithies 
in various neighborhoods. It required several 
hundred bushels of charcoal and two weeks' 
time to heat the furnace hot enough to smelt the 
ore. When started, the furnace could not be 
stopped conveniently until the blast of five or 
six months was completed. The workmen, in 
leather breeches, knew no regular week days or 
Sundays, but spent their time alternately at the 
furnaces and in the cook-shed, where tables were 
set day and night, and the cook, with big kettle 
full of meat and vegetables simmering upon the 
fire, was constantly at hand. In 1727, an estab- 
lishment for making iron pots and kettles was 
built in East Taunton by a joint-stock company. 
One of the Leonards set up a forge upon the 
Taunton Mill Stream. When it was finished. Cap- 
tain Leonard remarked, "Now let us hope well of 
it; and what shall we name it ? " "Why not call it 
Hopewell Forge.?" said a bystander; — the word 
clung and is still a local name. 

Iron was long used as a medium of exchange. 
The bloomery was a clearing-house when trade 
was not made by customary barter. Thus the 
Leonards became the earliest bankers, as well 
as hardware dealers, in the country. The minis- 
ter, at first paid in provisions, later received part 
of his stipend in iron, as shown by the record of 
a Raynham town meeting, September 2, 1751: 
[ S6 ] 



Land of the Leonards 



It was put to a vote whether or no the town will 
make an addition to the salary of Rev. John Wales 
for the present year, — that is, to make in the whole 
£400old tenor ; one-third to be paid in good merchant- 
able bar-iron at £9 per cwt., the other two-thirds 
in Indian corn at 20s. per bushel, rye at 30J., beef at 
i8d. per lb., and pork at 2s. 6d.; which sum being 
reduced to lawful money is £53 Sd. 

The payment for an ox bought of Thomas Wil- 
liams by Nathaniel Smith is transacted in this 
wise: 

Nathaniel Smith, this is to desire you to pay to 
my mother Williams, three hundred & half a qr. of 
iron which is part of ye price of ye ox which you 
bought of me. 

This is uniquely endorsed as follows : 

Taunton ye i6th of October, 1693. 

Capt. Leonard, I pray be pleased to pay to old 
mother Williams 3 hundred & half a quarter of iron. 

Nathaniel Smith. 

This product was so precious that when divi- 
dends of the company were paid in iron, Governor 
Leverett preferred to have his dividend hauled 
across country in ox-teams to Plymouth, that it 
might be more safely shipped to Boston, rather 
than to take the chance of rounding Cape Cod in 
shallops. 

[S7] 



Two Men of Taunton 



The Leonards became powerful by iron — Vul- 
cans among their fellows. Wherever they found 
bog-ore, — in "Scadding's Moire," Stony Brook 
Meadows, Chartley, Middleboro, or Littleworth 
Brook, — the ever-increasing family dammed 
the streams, made their charcoal,^ set up their 
bloomeries, and dug over the soil impregnated 
to this day with iron. When ore grew scarce in 
the swales and meadows, they went out in boats, 
and with tongs brought it up from the slimy bot- 
toms of Winnecunnett, Nippenickett, and Assa- 
wampsett ponds. After the smelting process 
the pigs of iron were rolled into bars and sheets, 
then forged into axes, anchors, shovels, kettles, 
fire-dogs, ox-shoes, tires, chains, nails, hammers, 
and such rude farm implements as were adequate 
to the hand-made, rough-hewn age in which they 
lived. Wherever they placed their "hearths," 
one of the family located. So thoroughly identi- 
fied were they with this industry that a house- 
hold proverb arose: "Wherever you find a forge, 
there you will find a Leonard." 

The prophet Benner claimed that the mate- 
rial greatness of America is founded on pig-iron 
and pork. Iron rails, "iron horses," iron ships, 
iron pipes in the ground, iron girders for build- 
ing, and iron stoves, attest the far-sightedness of 
these pioneer Leonards. It is natural that their 

^ Anthracite coal was not in use until after the Revolution. 

[58] 



Land of the Leonards 



descendants should plan to erect a fitting me- 
morial to them on Taunton Green amid the 
scenes of their early labors. Although the Leon- 
ards, as early as the Revolution, had learned to 
temper iron into steel, yet from bog-ore and wood- 
fed furnaces to Pennsylvania coal-mines and the 
chrome steel process, with its air-blasts and coke- 
fed fires, is a matter of two centuries.^ 

The Leonards were like Bismarck's men, of 
Blut und Eisen. The iron was absorbed into their 
blood. They were a sturdy, strong-fibred, and 
gristly clan. There are probably to-day more of 
their descendants in the Old Colony than of any 
other family. They and their posterity were of 
sound, efficient stock, well suited to bear the 
climate and endure all other hardships; marry- 
ing early in life, and apparently forgetting, what 
Hawthorne observed in a gloomy mood, "That 
for every birth there must be a funeral." One 
member of the family boasted nineteen children; 
but even so, falling short by two of the "bumper 
crop" among the Paines. Dwelling in the same 
spot for generations, they became rooted in the 
soil. Zephaniah built a castellated mansion near 
his forge at Raynham, in 1750. King Philip, in 
his wanderings up and down his little kingdom, 

* America stands for the iron age as compared with the marble 
age of Greece. Centuries hence its rusty ruins may put it at a 
disadvantage in the poet mind. 

[59] 



Two Men of Taunton 



often stopped at this forge of the Leonards (with 
whom he was always a true friend) to obtain iron 
points for his arrows; and when the white man 
had taken the sachem's head, it was in the cellar 
of this Leonard mansion that the gory relic found 
a transient sepulchre. 

Perez Fobes, of Raynham, in 1793 noted that 
longevity, promotion to public office, and a firm 
attachment to the iron industry were the remark- 
able facts associated with the Leonard family. 
Thomas Leonard, the boy emigrant who came to 
America clinging to Uncle Henry's finger, grew 
up to be a doctor, justice, major of battalion, 
deacon, town clerk, and judge of the Court of 
Common Pleas. Had there been any other de- 
sirable positions, he would have held them, for 
every office was his for the asking. The energy 
and business tact of one man gives life and vital- 
ity to a whole neighborhood and he becomes 
"General Manager" by divine right. Every com- 
munity will produce spontaneously a captain of 
industry whose mission is the regimentation of un- 
organized labor. Men of strong convictions and 
personalities unconsciously influence the thought 
and action of their kind. Such a positive force 
were the Leonards. 

Upon the death of Thomas Leonard in 171 3, an 
elaborate elegiac poem was printed by the editor 
of the Boston " News-Letter." The son of Thomas 

[60] 



Land of the Leonards 



was known as "Major George." His mansion, 
suggestive of wide-hearted hospitality, Is stand- 
ing at Chartley; one room Is twenty-five feet 
square, with cupboards in the double walls be- 
tween the deep-seated windows. The fireplace 
was so large that It Is now converted Into an in- 
closed skylighted bedroom. 

Ephraim Leonard, son of Major George, was 
born in this house In 1706, to the life of a farmer 
and iron-master. He received a tract of land in 
that part of Norton which was set off^ (upon his 
own motion), in 1770, under the name of Mans- 
field. There he built a substantial dwelling, and 
in the summer of 1739 rode down through Attle- 
boro and Providence to Norwich, Connecticut, 
to bring back, as wife, Judith Perkins, snugly 
seated, let us hope, on the pillion behind him.^ 
Though somewhat tardy, for that day. In entering 
upon married life. Fate smiled with Ephraim. He 
was gathered to his fathers, having survived at 
least three wives and leaving a widow to mourn 
him. His tombstone, surrounded by those of his 
wives and slaves, may be seen to-day in a forest, 
hard by the old homestead. Colonel Ephraim's 
colonial mansion ^ was adorned with quaint f res- 

^ The marriage shuttle was flying back and forth between 
these two families, for we find that Jacob Perkins, of Norwich, 
had taken a bride, Miss Jemima Leonard, from Taunton, in 1730. 

^ This house, originally in Norton, was situated in that part 
set off as Mansfield, in 1770. 

[61] 



Two Men of Taunton 



coes on the walls, and contained luxurious furnish- 
ings from the mother country. Its panelled front 
door was made from a single slab of primeval 
oak. Here he lived in baronial state, equal to that 
maintained by other distinguished American 
families. 

Like Washington, he had a deer park; his table 
was spread with toothsome viands, wild geese 
and pigeons, venison, grape jellies, pickerel, bass 
and other fish from the ponds; mallards and 
woodcock were brought in the fall by the hunts- 
men; wild turkeys and deer hung in the loft to 
ripen through the winter frosts; strings of dried 
apples festooned the corn-crib ; the ground cellar, 
permeated with the smell of cider, was stored 
with turnips, potatoes, and other garden pro- 
ducts, raised by his gang of slaves; deep-sea fish, 
lobsters, and sea-vegetables were sent from 
Plymouth. Close by the mansion stood the 
slave-house, with its bell to call the black farm- 
hands to meals and prayers. On winter nights 
these slaves climbed to a loft under the ridge- 
pole, to sleep on pallets of straw around the 
great chimney. 

The Leonards were a landed gentry, strongly 
attached to the Norton home. When one of 
them was offered a baronetcy in England, tradition 
says he replied that he would rather be "Lord 
of Acres" in America than Lord D'Acres in Eng- 

[62] 



Land of the Leonards 



land.^ Rev. Nathaniel Leonard sent to Norton 
to obtain the timber for his new house in Ply- 
mouth, "so that I may put my hand on it," he 
explained, "and say that you and I were raised 
out of the same soil and breathed the same air — 
we are brothers." 

Several years all three selectmen of the town 
were Leonards.^ The social position of the family 

^ The Leonard family came of noble origin, claiming descent 
from Leonard D'Acres, a nobleman descended in two lines 
from Edward III through one of his sons, John of Gaunt, Duke 
of Lancaster, and Thomas Plantagenet, Duke of Gloucester. 
The arms of the Leonards and Leonard D'Acres are the same. 

In a book of heraldry, published March 25, 1737, we find this 
account of a Leonard Castle. 

"This beautiful Castle stands not far from ye old Caer- 
Pensavel-Coit of ye Britains. This place was called Sazons 
Hyrst from its situation among the woods. 

"Soon after the arrival of ye Normans, it was ye seat of a 
Family who from ye Place took their name of de Hyrst or Herst. 

"From ye Posterity of Walleron de Herst who assumed ye 
name of Monceaux (which name also from that time has been 
annexed to ye Place) it came by marriage to the Fiennes. Sir 
Roger Fiennes or Fynes obtained License from K. Henry IV. and 
built ye present Noble Pile. It continued in this family till with 
Margt, Granddaughter of Thomas Ld Dacres, it passed to Samp- 
son Leonard, Esq., whose sister being married to Dr. Francis 
Hare, now Lord Bishop of Chichester, tis the property of their son 
and Heir, Francis Hare Naylor, Esq." (Now Hurst-Monceaux). 

^ Though the Leonards in the eighteenth century were the 
chief family of Norton, in the nineteenth, the Lincolns,of Norton, 
Raynham, and North Taunton, had become so numerous that 
when Abraham Lincoln, supposed to be descended from this 
family, was nominated for the Presidency, there was a political 
club composed entirely of that name. 

[63] 



Two Men of Taunton 



is shown by their elaborate tombstones in the 
Norton cemetery, where a posthumous rank is 
still preserved in table-shaped tombs, rising king- 
like among the bowing slate headstones of their 
humbler neighbors. "I am a Leonard" was a 
badge of nobility much like "I am a Roman." 
A venerable daughter of the family, married to 
a man of less distinguished name, upon being 
questioned, after a serious accident, as to her 
identity, replied, if you please, "I am the daugh- 
ter of 'old Dr. Leonard.'" The late Mrs. Peddy 
Bowen, a white-handed lady of quality, still re- 
membered in pleasing anecdote, was spoken of 
as the "last of the Leonards." When Zepha- 
niah Leonard died, a zealous eulogist (presuma- 
bly his neighbor and friend, Benjamin Church) 
wrote a high-sounding epitaph of which a couplet 
read : — 

"Even the Leonards undistinguished fall 
And Death and hovering darknes; covereth all." 

These lines were somewhat perverted by local 
philosophers into the phrase, "Even the Leonards 
must die," making a jest of their importance. 
The ill-chosen lines were ultimately chiselled off 
by Zephaniah's grandson in chagrin, after the 
family had dwindled In greatness. 

As they accumulated wealth, they accumulated 
trouble. Blunders and quarrels brought down 

[64] 



Land of the Leonards 



upon them a horde of lawyers, — a necessary 
evil born of an erring race. They discovered 
that the only way to outwit the lawyer was for 
everybody to become one. Thomas Leonard had 
been empowered to hold court when Bristol 
County was set off, in 1685. This judgeship was 
kept in the family a hundred years. When John 
Adams came to Taunton on court matters, in his 
youth, he found on the list of justices five Leon- 
ards — George, Sr., George, Jr., Ephraim, Zepha- 
niah, and Daniel, and began to refer to Taunton 
as the "land of the Leonards." 

Ephraim Leonard brought his bride to the Nor- 
ton home in the summer of 1739. On the 30th 
day of May, 1740, when the orioles were nesting 
in the branches, lilacs perfuming the air, and bees 
humming in the orchard where petals of apple 
blossoms fell like snowflakes, a boy was born into 
this home and christened "Daniel" from the 
mother's side of the house. He came into a fam- 
ily of gentlefolk that had the blood of nobles 
in their veins, and to a home filled with hospital- 
ity, with wealth, health, education, and honors 
awaiting him. The mother died that summer, 
leaving, as an inspiring legacy, her unfulfilled love 
and aspiration. And here the life story of our 
other hero opens with a picture of the infant 
Daniel lulled to sleep in the arms of a crooning 
negro nurse. 

[65] 



THEN THE SCHOOL-BOY 



Chapter IV 
Boston Latin and Norton School Days 

Two lads that thought there was no more behind 
But such a day to-morrow as to-day 
And to be boy eternal. 

Winter^s Tale. 

ROBERT TREAT PAINE was born at a 
house in School Street, Boston, near the 
present City Hall, at 4.30 a.m., March 4, 
173 1. That he was happy over his "early start" 
in life is shown by the precision with which he 
refers to the moment in his journal upon success- 
ive birthdays. The house was almost out in the 
suburbs then, though later the neighborhood be- 
came the haunt of aristocracy; the North End 
was then the court end of Boston. A month after 
this sonwas born, Thomas Paine purchased a house 
on the "lane leading to the Almshouse," near the 
corner of Beacon and Bowdoin Streets. This 
house stood much higher than the present build- 
ings in that locality; for Beacon Hill was cut 
down many feet to fill in the Boston Mill Pond. 
Mother Treat lived with the Paines; also Mrs. 
Treat's sister, and James Freeman, a nephew of 
Thomas Paine, employed by him as bookkeeper. 
In January, 1735, Thomas Paine bought a brick 

[69] 



Two Men of Taunton 



house, next door to the Boston Latin School, in 
this same School Street. 

Coming out on the doorstep, with shining 
morning face, the boy Robert could look over at 
the weathercock on the Province House where the 
curious copper Indian, with arm behind his back, 
was shooting against the wind ; he could look across 
to Copp's Hill, where the tombstones of the fore- 
fathers were silhouetted against the sky; above 
him was Gentry Hill and its hanging "iron skillet" 
filled with kindling to be ignited in the hour of 
alarm; to the eastward was Fort Hill, where the 
red banner of King George was blazing in the 
sunlight, and the harbor beyond, whitening with 
the fishermen's outgoing sails. The immediate 
environment was one to entice a boy. Gentry 
(now Park) Street ran past the Granary, which 
stood on the site of thepresent Park Street Ghurch. 
In early days, the Gommon extended to the cor- 
ner of Tremont and School Streets, including the 
Granary which gave its name to the Granary 
Burial Ground, set oif in 1660. Below the pound 
stood the Bridewell, a large two-story, brick 
building 120 feet long, erected in 1737, to serve 
as an insane asylum and workhouse, anticipating 
the present Deer Island institution. Near at 
hand was a large brick almshouse, so overflowing 
with the poor, feeble-minded, sick, and aged, that 
it was colloquially known as the "Hell Huddle." 

[70] 



IK - 



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Jot 









L. , Ei,TI,^.l«.,: 



DIAGRAM OF BOSTON IN PAINE'S BOYHOOD 
Paine lived in tlie centre of the Peninsula 



Boston and Norton School Days 

Occasionally in summer, Robert's father preached 
to the inmates, but we imagine the boy saw 
enough of such unfortunates during week-days, 
and preferred to remain outside, teasing the stray 
horses, cows, and swine confined in the adjacent 
pound. His sister Abigail, four years older than 
he, kept careful watch over his vagrancy when 
he wandered down to interview the vocal in- 
habitants of the frog-pond. Sister Eunice, two 
years his junior, was a constant companion; some- 
times on Sunday, Bob would mount a cricket, 
select a text, and solemnly exhort his imaginary 
congregation, represented only by the solitary 
Eunice sitting in appreciative silence. 

In his rambles up and down the tortuous 
streets and narrow alleys, Bob visited Hutchin- 
son's Corner for sweetmeats, or the apothecary 
at the " Old Cocked Hat," with its many gables 
and overhanging upper stories; the "Noah's Ark," 
with its walls seamed by the great earthquake, — 
a gathering-point for grizzled sea-captains and 
bearded Spanish sailors; the Boston Stone, from 
which distances were measured; the powder house, 
wishing-stone and gibbets on the Common where 
pirates were executed on Fast Days; and the 
great windmill on the point erected by the 
pioneers. He sailed toy boats upon the Mill Pond 
and spent happy hours on Long Wharf, which 
extended half a mile into the harbor, having 

[71 ] 



Two Men of Taunton 



a wall of warehouses on one side. There he 
fished for pollock and cunners, mayhap baiting 
his hook for the sea gulls coming too closely 
ashore. On rainy days he visited the lofts filled 
with his father's merchandise, and listened to 
yarns by old sea-dogs about China and the Span- 
ish Main. He saw at a distance the splendid 
gatherings at the Province House, and Brom- 
field's, and Sir Harry Frankland's magnificence; 
but he steered clear of the Bunch of Grapes 
and Green Dragon taverns, as scrupulously as did 
young John Adams; for he well knew that the 
black strap would be taken from the hook behind 
the kitchen door if his father once caught him 
within their precincts. Now and then his father 
took him to his counting-room and set him to 
work, tallying the invoices with the cargoes from 
the West Indies; and on Saturday afternoons in 
summer he would take the boy bathing at the 
narrow beach, cleared among the eel-grass at the 
foot of the Common, or boating on Charles River, 
a treat he was denied when alone, as an uncle 
had there been drowned on the very day he en- 
tered college. 

There were merry hours, also, visiting the old 
parsonage at Weymouth where his father had 
preached. On clear days the Blue Hills of Mil- 
ton challenged him and his comrades to explore 
ledges where rattlesnakes were sunning themselves, 

[72] 



Boston and Norton School Days 

and wild cats prowling. The prenatal instinct 
for mast-climbing prompted him to clamber to 
the pine-tops on the summit and trace the curving 
ocean shores and the sapphire ponds among the 
hills which intervene between Boston and the far- 
away peaks of Monadnock and Wachusett. With 
Eunice as comrade, he set traps for squirrels; 
placed water-wheels in the brooks, sought pun- 
gent flag-root in the fresh marshes, and went to 
see fishermen draw the alewive seine. ^ 

Visiting their aunt at Barnstable each summer, 
it was their delight to go where clams were so 
thick that they spouted an inverted shower bath, 
as the fiddler-crabs rattled off to shelter among 
the rosemary. They watched the protean changes 
of sea and sky; gathered periwinkles, star-fish, 
devil's-apron and sea wreckage, while Robert 
held the white shells to Eunice's ear that she might 
hear the mysterious song of the sea. 

Robert fitted for college in the old one-story, 
brick Latin School. An addition to the new and 
ambitious King's Chapel required taking a part 
of the ground occupied by the school and Robert 
records that he attended the laying of the corner 

* An old quatrain runs: 

Hingham for beauty, 
Cohasset for pride, 
If it was n't for herring 
Weymouth had died. 

[73] 



Two Men of Taunton 



stone in 1749.^ The new Latin School was a stone 
building with a belfry and bell, erected at the 
expense of the King's Chapel trustees. "Master 
Birch " was the famous John Lovell, who moulded 
Boston youth, "lashed into Latin by the tingling 
rod," from 1717 till the famous day, in 1775, when 
he announced the opening of the war, — "Z)^- 
ponite libros.^^ Lovell himself was a Loyalist, but he 
inspired such patriots as John Hancock, Thomas 
Gushing, James Bowdoin, Sam and John Adams, 
all of whom Paine as a boy came to know. 

At home Bob was carefully brought up in the 
nurture and admonition of the Lord. The Old 
South Church had such important influence in 
his formative days that we may dwell a moment 
on its story. About 1670, two factions arose in the 
First Church, on the subject of baptism and the 
introduction of the "Halfway Covenant." The 
liberal wing, being in the minority, withdrew and 
gathered a new congregation, known first as the 
"Third Church," afterwards as the "Old South." 
Here Samuel Willard, Paine's great-grandfather, 
was long pastor, and here in boyhood Paine at- 
tended, sitting in a box-pew with his grand- 

* Joseph Green, in his poem on Boston, says of the removal of 
the building to the other side of the street: 

"A fig for your learning! I tell you the town 

To make the church larger, must pull the school down." 
"Unhappily spoken!" exclaims Master Birch; 
"Then Learning, it seems, stops the growth of the Church!" 

[74] 



Boston and Norton School Days 

mother, mother, father, sisters, and aunt — a 
family party of seven, punctual at meeting, three 
times, on the Lord's Day. In strange evolution 
the First Church of Boston, once rigidly orthodox, 
later developed into a Unitarian Church, which 
Paine in old age attended, while the dissenting 
Third Church to-day remains an orthodox body 
in its new uptown meeting-house.^ The other 
day, after two hundred and thirty-five years, 
the two churches discovered that all are dug from 
the same clay, and Dr. Gordon, from the Trini- 
tarian Old South, administered the communion 
to Unitarians of the First Church, among whom 
were direct descendants of our Paine. 

The "Great Awakening," a spell of religious 
ferment from 1730 to 1750, succeeded a period of 
spiritual apathy and languor. People were aroused 
by the powerful preaching of Jonathan Edwards, 
of Northampton, and carried away with the ear- 
nest eloquence of George Whitefield. Governor 
Belcher, who had heard of the fame of Whitefield 
in Georgia, invited him to Boston. He first came 
September 15, 1740, and was taken in tow by 
Robert Treat Paine's great-uncle, Josiah Willard, 
secretary of the Province of Massachusetts for 
thirty years. During Whitefield's constant preach- 

^ Both these societies now meet in new sanctuaries, near 
where, in Paine's boyhood, British ships-of-war could come to 
anchor. 

[75 ] 



Two Men of Taunton 



ing, young Paine was among the great out-of- 
doors audiences, so large that several persons 
lost their lives in the crush. When Whitefield 
preached in the Old South Church the boy must 
have been impressed and tickled to see this gray- 
haired, cross-eyed, young minister hoisted in 
through a side-window, on account of the tre- 
mendous audience, as a few years later. Dr. Joseph 
Warren made a similar flank entry, when it was 
otherwise impossible to reach the pulpit. White- 
field came several times, sometimes sent for by 
Parson Prince when he thought the "heavenly 
shower" was over. Paine never failed to hear him 
and wrote, in critical college days, that he " ap- 
plauded the oratory, but condemned his juris- 
prudence." Whitefield's teaching became the 
subject of violent discussions; the air of New Eng- 
land was alive with pamphlets, tracts, and treat- 
ises for and against this preacher. During and 
after his visits, there were large additions to the 
church membership; the face of the town seemed 
changed, and a moral uplift was apparent at 
taverns and in the streets. Whitefield keyed up 
the populace to high nervous pitch. Robert 
caught the excitement of these "revivals." In 
1746 he joined the Old South Church, being then 
fifteen years old.^ 

^ Congregational statistics show this is the age when the 
greatest numbers become church members. 

[76] 



Boston and Norton School Days 

He records, March i6: 

This day, I was taken into the Old South Church 
in Boston, and took the covenant of grace upon me; 
and that it might be a perpetual covenant never to 
be broken and that I might never more return to 
sin or indulge myself in any iniquity, but in the name 
of God, I will resolve against all sins, especially those 
that most easily beset me. 

Apparently his grandmother. In commendation 
of his course, presented him with a memento of 
the occasion, for his diary says : 

March 20, 1746: Grandmother gave me a gold ring 
{nil nisi dantis amore). 

Parson Prince gave him the right hand of 
fellowship, as he had christened him. Young Paine 
took a deep interest in all things religious, listen- 
ing not only to Prince and Sewall expounding 
the catechism at the Old South, but to Samuel 
Mather, at the Second Church; to Mather's 
cousin, Mather Byles; to Benjamin Coleman, at 
Brattle Street, and Jonathan Mayhew at the 
■West Church, the last being an especial favorite 
of Paine. Whenever he met a parson in wig and 
bands, black skull cap and Geneva cloak, with 
Bible under his arm, he would doflf his cap In 
respect for the cloth. He was likely recognized 
by Governors Belcher and Shirley, from the fact 
that his uncle was secretary at the Province House 

[77] 



Two Men of Taunton 



and his father and grandfather had been clergy- 
men. 

To his parents and grandmother, the Sabbath 
was a day of keen pleasure, when they could in- 
dulge in the luxury of a soul-stirring sermon ; but to 
a boy, the long sermon, running often to "twenty- 
fifthly," seemed an uncomfortable interpretation 
of the Bible. Hell became as real a place in his 
geography as Cornhill or Boston Harbor. He sat 
with eyes wide open, in torture at the thought 
of eternal damnation; kicked his feet on the 
floor to keep them warm, or finally went to sleep 
from sheer exhaustion. A strict Sunday observ- 
ance was one of the last of the Puritan notions 
to be relinquished. No walking the streets or 
loafing at the tavern was allowed to mar the 
sanctity of the day. On Saturday evening. Bob 
read "Pilgrim's Progress," Mather's "Essays To 
Do Good," or his great-grandfather Willard's 
"Body of Divinity," the first folio printed in New 
England, containing two hundred and fifty lec- 
tures on the "Obligation of the Sabbath," "The 
Doctrine of Devotion," the "Lawfulness of In- 
terest on Money," and such controversial theo- 
logical questions, popular in their day, though a 
weariness to a modern reader. Robert quizzed 
Eunice in the catechism, and went to bed after 
carefully shining his boots, in preparation for the 
rigid observance of the following day. 

[78] 



Boston and Norton School Days 

Boston, then over a century old, was a town of 
fifteen thousand people. The oligarchy of the 
greater Mathers was now ended; Judge Sewall, 
the diarist, had laid down his chronicle pen. The 
age of brocade was arrived; King's Chapel held 
many ruffle-shirted Episcopalians ; halberdiers at- 
tended the Governor, and lace cuffs and powdered 
wigs were in evidence at the Thursday Lecture. 
George Brownell applied to the selectmen to 
instruct pupils in the "gentle art of dancing." 
This raised a rumpus among church-goers. By 
1740, Boston had a population of sixteen thousand 
thrifty, tidy, and prosperous citizens. In 1742, 
there were 1719 houses, 166 warehouses, 1200 
widows of sea-captains, and 15 14 negroes. Peter 
Faneuil had given Boston his hall, to rank with 
the Town House, Province House, and some fine 
mansions. There were four schoolhouses (but no 
Sunday Schools), three Episcopal churches, one 
meeting-house of Quakers, and one of Baptists. 
The streets were badly paved ; watchmen walked 
their rounds at night crying the hour and giving 
account of the weather in "moderate tones." 
Theatrical performances were frowned upon, but 
a bowling-green was set up at Fort Hill, in 1742. 
Town reprobates were "posted" upon public 
walls. Briareus could not wear the multitude of 
rings and gloves given to the minister at weddings 
and funerals. Lotteries, small-pox, and Fast 

[79] 



Two Men of Taunton 



Days flourished; the General Court authorized 
a lottery to raise funds to support Harvard Col- 
lege. Churches sometimes were maintained by 
this means, while dancing and theatricals were 
under the ban.^ Zabdiel Boylston was a famous 
physician inoculating with Lady Mary Wortley 
Montagu's newly-discovered remedy, and thus 
creating a bone of contention among medical 
men. It was argued that one in eight, not inocu- 
lated, died, against one in thirty of those inocu- 
lated. Every one stood in dread of the small-pox. 
Doctors did a thriving business inoculating, and 
contagious hospitals were erected everywhere. In 
time of pestilence or war, or in critical affairs of 
church and town government, it was customary to 
seek divine guidance by days of fasting, humilia- 
tion, and prayer. Hymns of "mere human compos- 
ers," as the successors of Dr. Watts were called, 
began to be hummed and fugued. Hoop petti- 
coats were arraigned by the "light of nature and 
the law of God." Newspapers contained many 
advertisements of negroes for sale, for the appre- 
hension of runaways, and for negro wet-nurses. 
Bibles were clandestinely printed by Daniel 
Henchman, in violation of the exclusive right 
given to John Basket in England. Umbrellas 

^ Behold the whirligig of time! To-day the parson may waltz 
with the soprano, and play the role of Hamlet on the chapel 
stage, but his days are numbered if he starts a church raffle! 

[80] 



Boston and Norton School Days 

were unknown, and the "great-coat" was the 
only effective shield against east wind and storm. 
No shops were open Saturday night. Dogs were 
so numerous and annoying to butchers that no 
one was allowed to keep a dog above ten inches 
in height. In 1741, the impressment of Yankee 
sailors, by the British men-of-war in the harbor, 
was vigorously resisted by Thomas Paine, father of 
Robert. There were spinning-schools, and Paine, 
in his diary, speaks of attending a famous spinning- 
bee up on the common. A gentleman named Old- 
mixon, coming from England in 1741, said, "The 
conversation of the people of Boston is as polite 
as the want of it is in England." 

The large towns were on the seaboard. Boston, 
though third in size in America, was first in com- 
mercial importance; six hundred vessels cleared 
annually from her harbor, although by its loca- 
tion it was a "foul weather port." On the hills, 
except Gentry, there were windmills for grind- 
ing corn.^ State Street was then King Street; 
Washington was Comhill, Marlborough Street, 
and Orange Street in its different sections. 

Paine's boyhood was spent in this snug little 
town, under Puritan influence. He was not one 

^ The name " Tri-Mountain," from which the present 
"Tremont" Street is derived, came not from the three hills 
of the Peninsula, but from the three peaks of Gentry or Beacon 
Hill, the loftiest of the three. 

[81 ] 



Two Men of Taunton 



to "creep like snail unwillingly to school." It 
was only a hop, skip, and jump from his back 
door into the schoolhouse; as, later, it was but a 
step over the back fence to the theatre for his 
son, Robert, who became a theatrical poet. 
Propinquity counts much in shaping careers. 
Therefore it is not surprising that proximity to 
the schoolhouse produced a bright scholar who 
could master the rule of three, recite hie, hcBc, hoc, 
explain dative, locative, and ablative, and com- 
mit to memory his lines from Ovid's "Metamor- 
phoses" with facile aptness. From the Boston 
Latin School, Robert was graduated at the head 
of his class. 

In contrast to the town-bom Paine, Daniel 
Leonard enjoyed the traditional wholesome 
New England country boyhood. Paine's pro- 
genitors, by their sedentary habits, and minds 
dwelling much in the unseen realms of the spirit 
world, naturally produced a child inclined to be 
religious in character. Boston's narrow streets 
lacked the ozone of pine forests, to strengthen 
his physique. Daniel Leonard inherited a vig- 
orous current of blood from ancestors who kept 
in constant touch with Mother Earth. He was 
cradled close to Nature's breast, where fields spar- 
kled with morning dew, brooks rippled through 
green meadows, and bluebirds heralded the spring- 
time from the budding oak. From country sources 

[82] 



Boston and Norton School Days 

of vitality was he strengthened for the strain of 
many years. 

Although Ephraim Leonard married four wives 
(some say five), of whom two were widows, there 
was no tangle of "my children and your children 
playing with our children." The sole darling of 
the household was Daniel, who, like the great 
Leonardo of Italy, was petted, scolded, coddled, 
or spanked by a succession of maternal guardians. 
Born with an iron spoon in his mouth, the spoon 
had a silver lining. In the springtime, when the 
partridge was drumming in the woodlot, he helped 
"Robin," "Csesar," and other family slaves in 
breaking steers. He planted fields of Indian corn, 
dropping four kernels and one pumpkin seed in 
each hill, while crows smiled from the neighboring 
pines. The town gave a bounty for these rapa- 
cious crows and bluejays, and they made a tempt- 
ing target for Daniel with his long "Queen's 
arm." He dug out woodchucks, tacking their 
salted skins on the barn door; tamed the young 
crow and taught him to "talk" by splitting his 
tongue on a silver shilling; listened to bees buzz- 
ing in the hollow tree; carried home soft squirm- 
ing squirrels in his hat; aiid brought in pocketsful 
of moss, lichens, quartz pebbles, "mud turkles," 
and eggs of the old fire hang-bird. We must for- 
give him if he ever came home with a huge paper 
hornet's nest, to set the contents loose during a 

[83] 



Two Men of Taunton 



sewing bee in fulfilment of a certain text of Scrip- 
ture.^ He sought the chickadee's home in the 
birch stumps, the snake's skin in the fly-catcher's 
nest; climbed the barn rafters to see the young 
swallows, and gathered cocoons of moth and but- 
terfly. He knew the habits of the far-travelling fox, 
that one night was in Norton, the next in Bridge- 
water, the third in Rehoboth. He set horse-hair 
snares under springy saplings, and climbed pliant 
birches to swing over to the ground in thrilling 
hazard. He lay at night by charcoal pits, listening 
to the rollicking whip-poor-will and whickering 
screech owl; pricked up his ears to catch the bark 
of a distant coon; or watched the fantastic sparks 
shooting from the peaty, smouldering mound. 

In the summer, when clams were brought from 
the shore, he baked them on heated stones in 
King Philip's Cave, overlooking Winnecunnett. 
He chased the cattle out of the corn, and was 
happy when a shy deer mingled with the cows 
in the meadow. He went swimming at Wad- 
ing River or in the Mill Pond, where high-water 
was marked by a copper bolt driven into a boul- 
der, and performed all the aquatic tricks such 
as "skinning the cat" and "bobbing for eels," 
handed down by boys to this day. After the swim, 
with feathers in their hair the naked boys raced 
whooping through the woods, imagining they were 
^ Deuteronomy 7:20. 

[84] 



Boston and Norton School Days 

"Injuns" on the war-path. They made huts of 
odorous pine-boughs, built camp-fires, smoked 
sweet fern and "everlasting," roasted fish, baked 
potatoes, and for a choice relish boiled snakes' 
and turtles' eggs. 

The sports of country boys are sometimes rude, 
crude, and unseemly. In Norton there was a 
custom of egg-gathering in bird-nesting season, 
when the boys chose sides, which separated to 
scour the woods and rifle the nests of crows, blue- 
jays, owls, hawks, and blackbirds. The banditti 
assembled in some secluded rendezvous, where the 
captains of each side would utilize the plunder 
as ammunition in a hand-grenade duel. When 
they returned home, a walking omelet, they were 
careful to make an unobtrusive entrance to avoid 
a supplementary taste of "strap-oil." 

Dan went fishing in the great ponds for white 
perch, pouts, and pickerel (much larger than we 
get to-day), and possibly he made the acquaint- 
ance of one of those antedeluvian bull frogs which 
Jocelyn, the first New England naturalist, tells 
about, "as large as a new-born baby." The ring 
of the anvil and the glow of the "hearth" were 
familiar to him; wherever he went a-visiting 
among his relatives, he found a bloomery to 
play in. He thoroughly understood the iron busi- 
ness ; had fed the oak wood into the furnace, dug 
the ore, worked the bellows and poured the 

[85 1 



Two Men of Taunton 



molten iron into the pits of sand, and hammered 
out the nails and horseshoes. The June Muster 
was a grand holiday event for every boy within 
a half-day's horseback ride of the training-field 
on Taunton Green. 

In autumn, Daniel entered the surrounding 
forest, multi-colored as the coat of Joseph, and 
climbed the high shagbark and chestnut trees, to 
shake down ripened nuts. He inflated dried blad- 
ders, put a solitary pebble rattling inside, then tied 
them to the tails of roosters and strutting gob- 
blers, and sent them, frightened and distracted, 
round the farmyard to create a gallinaceous panic. 
He baited belligerent rams in the sheep pasture, 
and we suspect the dare-devil boy sometimes 
entered the deer paddock and mounted an old 
buck, clinging to his horns and dashing madly 
about the enclosure. 

In winter, he went coasting, "belly-bump," 
down the glistening hills on his bob-sled, or skating 
under the crystal stars on the Mill Pond. This 
Daniel come to judgment knew the tracks, in the 
snow, of all animals; the two prints of the mink, 
the four prints of the rabbit, the delicate track 
of the white-footed mouse, and the double track 
where the hound had followed the fox. Occa- 
sionally the three marks of the wild turkey's 
foot sent him hurrying for his gun; and the otter, 
raccoon, and howling wolf brought excitement 
[86] 



Boston and Norton School Days 

a-plenty. The yawning fireplace, of enormous ap- 
petite, claimed a large share of his time to supply 
it. In the evening, he roasted corn and nuts on 
the hearthstone; read "Robinson Crusoe" and 
Franklin's Almanac, and listened to stories of 
local ghosts and goblins, by the fireside, as he 
watched the "wild geese" climbing the soot on 
the chimney-back. Credulous slaves told weird 
tales of African life; and witch stories were con- 
nected with the family. One tradition was that 
the original Major George Leonard, Daniel's 
grandfather, had made a league with the Old 
Rascal in order to gain great wealth, and in re- 
turn for services rendered, Leonard was to give 
the Devil his body and soul when called for. In 
1716, he was ill with a fatal fever; the Evil One 
appeared, claimed the cadaver, and bore it away. 
Giving, as he left, a tremendous leap from the 
top of the house, he landed on a distant rock, 
leaving footprints which are clearly seen to this 
day to prove the story true. 

Daniel may have gone with his father to hear 
Whitefield speak on Berkley Common. The 
preacher proclaimed to the children that the people 
of Taunton were "part man, part beast, and part 
Devil," and a few years later came back to correct 
his statement by announcingthey were "all Devil." ^ 

^ Norton in the year 1910 is a peaceful, unpretentious town 
spread out over a flat country covered with white pines, juni- 

[87] 



Two Men of Taunton 



So Daniel came through boyhood's happy days 
without encountering, so far as we know, either 
constable or bonesetter. 

As for his school days, we have the following 
entry in the town records : 

December 30, 175 1 — Voted to Ephraim Leonard, 
Esq., for boarding ye school master (Stephen Far- 
rar) 6h weeks, and feching him from Concord, 
£11-00-0 Old Tenor; £1-9-4, Lawful Money. 

Six and a half weeks in the year is small school- 
ing for a boy of eleven, even though he may ab- 
sorb learning from daily companionship with the 

pers, and maple and white oak, for charcoal burning. Its two 
thousand inhabitants are gathered in a half-dozen centres; sev- 
eral of the old Leonard mansions are still standing to remind 
the visitor that they were the lords of this land, though the 
house in which Daniel grew up was razed in 1893. The first min- 
ister's house, a fine type of the substantial Colonial home, is 
pictured on the town seal, with that atmosphere of solidity, hos- 
pitality, and comfort known to the old-fashioned Yankee folk. 
Norton has many greenhouses where midwinter cucumbers are 
raised for Boston epicures, and in which the w^ater is still so 
impregnated with iron as to corrode the boilers; there is a 
large box-board factory in which the surrounding forests are 
being continually converted into casings for all manner of 
merchandise; there is a jewelry factory catering to the vanity 
of America. The most noteworthy change which has taken 
place in the last hundred years is Wheaton Seminary, founded 
by Daniel Leonard's American agent. This institution, which 
advertises the town of Norton about the country, has drawn 
young women from every State of the Union to this village. 

[88] 



Boston and Norton School Days 

preceptor, sitting beside him at the table, and 
sleeping with him at night. The town was quar- 
tered for school purposes as the following entry- 
shows : 

At a legal town meeting of Norton, Massachu- 
setts, held March 29, 1727, it was "Voted that Jo- 
siah Griggs shall be schoU master to keep Scholl in 
Norton. . . . Provided he will keep scholl, the first 
quarter at ye middle of the towne; and the second 
quarter at Winconett; and the third quarter on the 
south side of ye way that is towards Elezer Fisher's; 
and the fourth quarter at Left. White's or theyre- 
abouts." 

Daniel lived in the Winnecunnett section, and 
rode his pony to the other remote places, swinging 
around the circle for twenty-five weeks. The min- 
ister, of course, supplemented the pedagogue in 
preparing the youth for college. The first settled 
minister at North Precinct (whom Ephraim 
Leonard had brought down in his chaise from 
Brookline, as he had brought the school-teacher 
from Concord) was Ebenezer White, a graduate of 
Harvard in 1733. He administered the church 
affairs for twenty years, and taught young Daniel, 
as Rev. John Avery at South Precinct taught his 
cousin, George, a few years earlier. This George 
attended Harvard, but other cousins went to Yale, 
so that Daniel had inclinations toward both in- 

[89] 



Two Men of Taunton 



stitutions.^ Eleven years after Paine was matricu- 
lated, Daniel, nine years younger, was admitted 
to Harvard. Thus we picture him at sixteen years 
of age, like the Daniel of Bible days, "of no 
blemish and well-formed," going up to Harvard 
in his eagerness and expectancy to enjoy the new 
faces, new friends and new pleasures of the col- 
lege life in which he was to take a conspicuous 
part. 

^ President Clapp of Yale was a summer resident of the Old 
Colony at Scituate, and his influence may have been felt in this 
vicinity. 



Chapter V 
Harvard College in the Eighteenth Century 

After God had carried us safe to New England, and we had builded 
our houses, provided necessaries for our livelihood, reared convenient 
places for God's worship, and settled the Civil Government, one of the 
next things we longed for and looked after was to advance Learning and 
perpetuate it to Posterity, dreading to leave an illiterate Ministry to 
the Churches, when our present ministers shall lie in the Dust. — 
John Winthrop. 

AT the age when the ancient Roman youth 
f-^\ assumed the toga virilis, Bob Paine was 
-^ -^ putting on the prescribed green frock 
coat and skull cap of the Harvard freshman. His 
mother, Eunice Paine, was a daughter, step- 
daughter, granddaughter, and wife of a minister; 
quite naturally she wished to be mother of a 
preacher of the gospel. The tablet on the western 
gate of the Harvard Yard, quoted above, pro- 
claims that the institution was founded for the 
purpose of educating young men for the ministry. 
For a century afterward, the major portion of 
those who entered college expected to make it a 
stepping-stone to the pulpit. It was for this pur- 
pose that Bob was sent to Harvard, as the parents 
of John and Sam Adams and John Hancock had 
likewise sent their boys, although no one of this 
quartette of lifelong intimates is recorded in the 

[91 ] 



Two Men of Taunton 



Quinquennial with "S.T.D." appended to his 
name. 

On a September morning, then, in 1745, Paine's 
fond mother kissed her boy good-bye, sister Abi- 
gail put a flower in his button-hole, and Eunice, 
aged twelve, clapped her hands and exclaimed, 
" Some day you '11 be a great preacher, Bob, and 
we'll all come to hear you." They followed Rob- 
ert with admiring eyes as away he rode with his 
father in the chaise down across Roxbury Neck to 
Cambridge, seven miles distant, as the guidestone, 
regardless of modern short cuts, still proclaims. 

The college world of which Paine became a 
part could not muster one hundred and fifty all 
told.-^ There were but three halls around the Yard. 
The faculty consisted of President Holyoke, Pro- 
fessors Wigglesworth and Winthrop, and Tutors 
Hancock, Mayhew, Flynt, and Marsh. Boys 
were still flogged, although, after 1734, boxing 
the ears was "expressly reserved to the president, 
professors and tutors." Dignity was much en- 
forced. The students were little old men. Con- 
versations were carried on in Latin, or something 
like it.^ Daniel or Robert, meeting President Hol- 

^ Paine's class graduated twenty-three members; Leonard's, 
twenty-six. 

^ By the original Dunster rules, "The scholars shall never 
use their mother tongue, except that in public exercises of 
oratory, or such like, they be called to make them in English." 

[92] 



Harvard in the Eighteenth Century- 
yoke in the College Yard, doffed their caps at 
eight paces and hailed him ^^ Salve o prcsse" and 
"passed the time of day" among themselves as 
Pompey or the Gracchi might have done in the 
Roman Forum. If Paine's chum called him "Bob " 
in public, he was liable to a fine; there were fines 
for "making tumultuous noises," "neglecting to 
repeat the sermon," "despising Hebrew," "going 
on the top of buildings," or "leaving college with- 
out proper garb." To wear "silken night-gowns" 
was a heinous crime. A student was fined a shill- 
ing and a half for lying, and if detected at card- 
playing (Have a care, Daniel!) was fined two 
shillings and sixpence. 

If a minister's son is the Devil's grandson, col- 
lege days will prove it. Robert was not especially 
precocious ; in no sense did he exhibit the so-called 
flash of genius later ascribed to his son; neither 
a prig nor an aesthetic recluse, he was a youngster 
emerging from a long line of students, and in- 
heriting poor health. Such recreations as he took 
were limited by the omnipresent eye of the fac- 
ulty, if not by his own conventional tastes. Search- 
ing his heart for hidden guile, he lingered over 
his Shepard's "Sincere Convert" or Stoddard's 
"Guide to Christ." He indulged in the milder 
forms of college dissipation ; gathered with the boys 
in front of the buttery, when mutton was served 
too frequently at Commons, to bleat and baa 

[93 ] 



Two Men of Taunton 



until the steward cried for mercy; and whenever 
the butter became so rancid it "was n't fit to 
grease a farmer's cart wheels with," he rose in 
righteous indignation. To drive dull care away, 
he purchased a German flute at the cost of £4- 
iSs.; and bore the basso profunda when the boys 
sang glees in close harmony under professors' win- 
dows. "Making the president's hay" was then a 
part of the freshman duty. From June 16, 1746, 
to June 25, as his journal indicates, you might 
have seen Paine whetting his scythe, mopping 
his moist brow, raking hay into windrows, or 
seeking the cool, brown jug in the corner of the 
field. The "jug" figures in Paine's diary in his 
early days. The laconic but expressive entry, 
"Got drunk," appears as late as March, 1767. 
For May 15, 1746, we read: 

Whipple^ gave us a very sumptuous treat. Oliver 
got drunk before dinner and I went home a little 
boozy myself. 

It was provided, by a law passed in 1734, ^^^ 
no undergraduate should "keep by him brandy, 
rum, or any other distilled liquors, nor make use 
of any such mixed drinks as punch or flip in en- 
tertaining one another or strangers." Students 

* Whipple, the first in rank of the class, died the year after 
graduation; Oliver was an associate member of the Academy 
of Science with Paine in 1780. 

[94I 



Harvard in the Eighteenth Century- 
were allowed a half-pint of beer at each meal, 
and Paine frequently ran over to town for "half 
a barrel of cyder." The nearest route between 
Cambridge and Boston was by ferry. The keg was 
placed in a boat at Long Wharf or the Old West 
End, rowed over to Cambridge, and conveyed by 
willing hands, with some little ceremony, to the 
tap-room in a secret cellar. Cider was a joy to 
Paine in youth and a solace to age.^ This was the 
natural beverage for the New Englander, made 
from the native apple; just as the Frenchman 
drank the wine of the grape, the Mexican the 
cactus juice, or the Eskimo his whale oil. 

To keep the students from the temptations of 
Boston taverns, the buttery hatch became a sort 
of buifet lunch, where beer, cider, and other 
"extras" could be obtained, and from which the 
butler realized many perquisites. All the stu- 
dents were obliged to attend Commons unless ex- 
cused by the president. Constant grumbling, and 
the discharge of steward after steward, brought 
about a vote of the Corporation in 1750 that the 
quantity of commons be "two sizings of bread 
in the morning, one pound of meat at dinner with 
sufficient vegetables, and a half-pint of beer; and 

* John Adams attributed his longevity to a mug of hard cider 
before breakfast; and thought the first ancestor of his family 
would never have eaten the apple in the Garden of Eden if 
he had known what good cider it would make. 

[95 ] 



Two Men of Taunton 



at night, that a pot-pie be of the same quantity as 
usual, and also half a pint of beer." Soon after 
Leonard left college, beer was banished from the 
table, and cider took its place, brought on in pew- 
ter quart cans which were passed from mouth 
to mouth like the wassail bowl. Students were 
then forbidden to sup or dine in town, "except on 
an invitation to dine or sup gratis," and shortly, 
breakfasting in town was forbidden — the morning 
meal being served at the Commons instead of at 
the buttery. 

On the wall of the dining-hall was hung a list 
of the students written in large German text, giv- 
ing their names in the order of their rank; those 
at the top were allowed to help themselves first 
and pass to the next. A platform, raised twenty 
inches, put the seniors and tutors on a higher 
level. An old regulation says: 

The waiters, when the bell tolls at meal-time, 
shall receive the plates and victuals at the kitchen- 
hatch, and carry the same to the several tables for 
which they are designed. And the senior tutor or 
other senior scholar in the hall shall crave blessing 
and return thanks. 

During the discussion of the equality of men 
preceding the Revolution, the custom of rank- 
ing students according to their family import- 
ance, instead of alphabetically, was questioned as 

[96] 



Harvard in the Eighteenth Century 

inconsistent with the rising American ideals. 
Social precedence was earlier abolished at Yale, 
but the Harvard faculty still sat arbiters of rank 
until 1773, weighing the standing of citizens whose 
sons were in college. During Paine's and Leon- 
ard's college careers, they shone by their fathers' 
glory rather than their own. The ranking of the 
class produced heart-burnings and jealousies 
among the students and their parents. Learning, 
blood, culture, pious ancestry, all succumbed to 
blatant prosperity in the West India or slave 
trade. It was a day of excitement, rage, and harsh 
reflections on the faculty by disappointed students, 
who were slow to acquiesce in their allotment. 
Paine, although descended from a president of 
the college, ranked only ninth in his class; while 
Leonard, son of a wealthy iron-master, ranked 
second. 

When Paine entered Harvard, coming with the 
highest honors from the Boston Latin School, he 
was placed in the home of Rev. Mr. Appleton, 
whose family name is now preserved in the col- 
lege chapel. His room-mate was a friend named 
Barrett, who died in his sophomore year. Paine's 
watchful care of this feeble chum was very try- 
ing, for he himself had but a modicum of health; 
and though tall, at the age of fifteen weighed only 
ninety pounds. 

Rev. Thomas Paine, starting on a health voyage 

[97] 



Two Men of Taunton 



during his son's college course, wrote a letter of 
f atheriy counsel, closing thus : 

Let these texts be your guide in all cases, civil and 
religious. Psalms xxv, 9, Matt, xxviii, 20.^ 

Our Puritan ancestors discouraged familiarity 
in their intercourse with their children. Dignity 
and restraint were impressed upon them, and their 
duty was exhibited by the tone of submissive re- 
spect and obedience, rather than of warm affec- 
tion. A letter by Robert to his father in 1749 re- 
veals the formal relations of father and son and the 
mature philosophy of the young man : 

Be pleased, sir, to accept a few lines as a token 
of the respect and duty which your much obliged son 
bears towards you. It is, indeed, with great reluct- 
ance that I think of your intended voyage; and al- 
though it is not for me to regret your proceedings, 
yet human nature has many foibles, and the weak- 
ness of youth needs much indulgence. If your health 
would be served by any other means, with great 
pleasure should I hear it; but if that, and that 
method only, will avail, with profound submission, 
I acquiesce. I may not have another opportunity 
of writing to you, or of hearing from you again; 
therefore, as far as words will go, I would express my 

^ "The meek will he guide in judgment: and the meek will 
he teach his way." "Teaching them to observe all things what- 
soever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, 
even unto the end of the world. Amen." 

[98I 



Harvard in the Eighteenth Century 

sincere desire for your welfare, hoping that the same 
Providence which has hitherto kept us both, will still 
keep and preserve us, and bring us again to a happy 
meeting in this world. I hope, sir, I shall never be 
unmindful of the relation I stand in to you, either as 
a child or as one who professes Christianity: and, sir, 
I desire your remembrance of me, that, however 
Providence orders in this world, yet that we may be 
happy hereafter. 

Profanity and " taking the great and holy name 
of God in vain" were so prevalent in college, that 
(November 20, 1747) Rev. Mr. Appleton gave 
a lecture against swearing, and called upon all 
who had "any honor, religion, and reverence for 
the name of God," to do all in their power to 
discourage the unholy practice. Paine was among 
those who volunteered to report any profanity, 
and kept his ear alert for the Latin swear-words 
— one of which, ^^dei te perdant^^ the boys had 
learned from lively Terence. 

In his Journal, May 14, 1746, Paine notes; 

Lee returned from Louisburg. Was reduced four- 
teen places in class, and compelled to make public 
confession. 

Possibly the old French cross from the chapel at 
Louisburg, found years afterward in the base- 
ment of one of the Harvard dormitories, and set 

[99] 



Two Men of Taunton 



up as a trophy over the entrance to Gore Hall, 
was a token of the sign-stealing proclivities of 
this student. The public confession in chapel at 
morning prayers was one of the punishments for 
misdemeanors. 

Studies, as well as apparel, were prescribed. 
Both Paine and Leonard scanned their Virgil 
and Juvenal, parsed Greek paradigms, attended 
vespers (always committing to memory the text 
of sermons); sharpened their quills, and trans- 
lated St. Paul's Epistles from the original Greek 
into Latin of their own make; struggled with 
Euclid, and Newton's "Principia," and went to 
hear Whitefield, who periodically appeared to 
arraign the college; saying that it had sunk into 
a "seminary of paganism," and that "their light 
had become darkness — darkness , that may be 
felt." 1 

^ The standing of Paine's class was as follows: 



William Whipple 
Andrew Oliver 


Newport 
Boston 


Edward Wigglesworth 
Nathaniel Appleton 
Benjamin Marston 


Cambridge 

Cambridge ■ 

Marblehead 


John Seaver 
John Cotton 
Cotton Tufts 


Kingston 

Newton 

Medford 


Robert Treat Paine 


Boston 


John Wiswall 
Joshua Green 
Samuel Brooks 


Boston 
Boston 
Medford 


[ loo ] 





Harvard in the Eighteenth Century 

When Daniel Leonard entered Harvard, he 
was placed third in his class of 1760, and after 
the departure of Francis Green, ranked second. 
Thomas Brattle, of Cambridge, stood first. Leon- 
ard's father was the first citizen of the Norton 
Plantation, had prospered in business, and had 
held nearly every office of consequence except 
that of minister. Daniel Bliss, of Concord, a 
great-uncle of Ralph Waldo Emerson, was Leon- 
ard's room-mate, and he, with Samuel Dean, also 
from Norton, was with Leonard in London twenty 
years later as a Tory exile. Freshman Leonard 
ran bareheaded around the Yard on errands for 
the seniors; wrestled, pitched quoits, and was 
prominent on the lighter side of college life. In 
the faculty records we should not expect to find 
mention of Paine's degradation in the class for re- 
fusing to doff his cap to tutors, playing on his flute 
at midnight, sleeping during class lectures, throw- 
ing stones through professors' windows, or writing 
libellous acrostics on the faculty. His record is 



William Tidmarsh 


Boston 


Gideon Richardson 


Sudbury- 


Nathan Tisdale 


Lebanon 


Samuel Haven 


Framingham 


Joseph Wilson 


Maiden 


Abijah Thurston 




Timothy Pond 




Ezekiel Dodge 


Shrewsbury 


Israel Cheever 


Concord 


Oliver Meriam 


Concord 



[ loi] 



Two Men of Taunton 



even clearer than that of Sam Adams, who has 
one solitary reprimand against him for lying abed 
after the college bell proclaimed the hour for 
prayers. Leonard was fined a number of times 
for absence. These pecuniary mulcts (Yankees 
were thrifty in the matter of punishments) sug- 
gest that he was playing truant in Boston. Emer- 
son said : " Send your boy to school, and he will get 
his education on the road." But Daniel was never 
rusticated, nor convicted of flagrant "crimes." 
In 1757, a military company was formed to drill 
with firelocks on the Delta (where Memorial 
Hall now stands) and on Cambridge Common. 
In these "Harvard Fencibles," Leonard held a 
captaincy. The student soldiers, aping their 
elders, learned tactics in anticipation of enlist- 
ment in the days when France and England were 
ready to fly at each other's throats on slightest 
provocation. They made a glittering spectacle 
under command of Captain Brattle, Leonard 
heading the first division, arrayed in green coat, 
with white trimmings and buff hose. The girls 
from the fine houses, which later became "Tory 
Row," smiled and waved their handkerchiefs, 
and Daniel returned the greeting with sword 
salutation as he passed by the elm tree under 
which Washington, fifteen years later, was to take 
command of the American Army. 

Leonard, at Commencement in 1760, dellv- 
[ 102 ] 






1 



O 
O .5P 



5? < 



;3 *- -^ . 



= -J- Su; 



_ C C> '-^ •• § 3 

I o : ^^^ ■ 






^ 3 a 



1 



^ 



o 






Harvard in the Eighteenth Century 



ered a Latin Oration in presence of Lieutenant- 
Governor Hutchinson, the assembled concourse 
of alumni, and his proud father and stepmother.^ 
In 1766, he went to Yale to receive his "ad 
eundem" degree. His mother (from Norwich, 
Connecticut) had family associations with Yale, 
and this branch wished Daniel also to wear the 
colors of their college. The young man found a 

^ The order of rank of Leonard's dass was: 



Thomas Brattle 


Cambridge 


Daniel Leonard 


Norton 


Ebenezer Hancock 


Boston 


Lewis Vassall 


Boston 


John Lowell 


Newbury 


John Hall 


Wallington 


William Hooper 


Boston 


Elijah Dunbar 


Boston 


John Warren 


Wenham 


Daniel Bliss 


Concord 


Rev. Josiah Crocker 


Eastham 


Ebenezer Williams 


Roxbury 


Bunker Gay- 


Dedham 


Nathaniel Wells 


Wells 


William Bradford 


Boston 


John Wyeth 


Cambridge 


Dr. William Baylies 


Uxbridge 


Samuel Deane 


Norton 


Ephraim Woolson 


Lexington 


James Baker 


Dorchester 


Timothy Fuller 


Middleboro 


John Livermore 


Westboro 


Ebenezer Rice 


Marlboro 


Antipas Steward 


Marlboro 


Henry Cuming 


Hollis 


[ 103 ] 





Two Men of Taunton 



new atmosphere in New Haven. President Clapp 
of Yale was more rigidly orthodox than Dr. Holy- 
oke of Harvard. He had great notions of dignity 
and ceremony, and was a stickler for prayers and 
scholastic forms. All the tutors must subscribe 
to the Westminster Confession of Faith. At the 
same time, our young collegian's social position 
was less flattering to his self-esteem, and accus- 
tomed as he had been to sit above the salt at 
Harvard, it was humiliating to be placed in the 
middle of his class at Yale. But he adjusted 
himself to the new conditions, and to secure his 
honorary degree, studied the civil constitution of 
Great Britain, the forms of court procedure, civil 
and common law, military and commercial law, 
besides physics, anatomy, mathematics, and liter- 
ature. Exalted by two college degrees, we can 
see him as he greets his friends in Norton at the 
age of twenty-six, a gentleman and scholar. 



NEXT THE SOLDIER 



Chapter VI 
Adventures by Sea and Forest 

I remember the black wharves and the slips. 

And the sea-tides tossing free; 
And Spanish sailors with bearded lips, 
And the beauty and mystery of the ships, 

And the magic of the sea. 

LoNGFELtOW. 

Have ye heard of our hunting, o'er mountain and glen — 
Through cane-brake and forest — the hunting of men? 

Whittier. 

WHEN Shakespeare introduced the sol- 
dier as one of his "seven ages," he did 
not necessarily mean a man who actu- 
ally shouldered an arquebus to follow a tattered 
banner through Flanders, and be finally borne 
off on a litter, leaving one leg on the field of battle. 
He merely recognized the Hotspur age, when the 
venturous spirit of youth, scoffing at danger, bums 
to go forth to try its mettle in conquest of the 
world (which is himself) . No further apology will 
be ofi"ered for these chapters on the soldiership 
of our heroes. Neither Paine nor Leonard went 
about seeking the bubble reputation in the can- 
non's mouth. No deeds of gore and glory by either 
are handed down to their posterity. Leonard did 
not march out to Concord Bridge with the red- 
coats nor did Paine go through the winter at 
Valley Forge. Yet both saw enough of the hor- 
[ 107 ] 



Two Men of Taunton 



rors of battle not to jest at scars. Paine served 
as chaplain at Crown Point, in the French and 
Indian War, ministering to tomahawked and 
arrow-pierced soldiers, and preaching burial ser- 
mons over their graves. Leonard stood on a house- 
roof at Copp's Hill, watching a red line of British 
soldiers falling under the fire of the Provincial 
farmers behind the old rail fence beyond the river 
at Charlestown. That was as close as either came 
to the smell of gunpowder and the whistle of bul- 
lets. Leonard bore the title of colonel many years, 
though rather in a Kentuckian sense. Paine was 
a soldier of fortune. 

Paine was better equipped to enlist in the navy 
than the army. The magic of the sea touched him 
in childhood, as he beheld the white sails coming 
and going in Boston Bay. Cape Cod blood running 
in his veins set the Wanderlust upon him. He longed 
to explore the seas in his father's vessels for gain 
or adventure, as well as to restore his fluctuating 
health.^ In school-days, he had sailed along the 
North Shore as far as Falmouth and Pemaquid 
to visit ancestral property, and farther on to 
his father's branch office at Halifax. In his first 
trip to Carolina, though he passed the entire voy- 
age of two weeks in his bunk, he reached port 
still manfully determined to master the art of 

* He quit the sea with health mended, blood quickened, 
skin toughened, and nerves nourished. 

[ io8] 



Adventures by Sea and Forest 

navigation. On the return trip, having found his 
sea-legs, learned the ropes, and gotten his nautical 
bearings, he could resist no longer the call of 
the mermaids. The next year, 1753, the Boston 
"Centinel" announced that the sloop Dolphin 
(Captain Paine), with cargo of brick and staves, 
had cleared at the port of Boston. She was to 
bring back from Newbern, Carolina, a cargo of 
tar and turpentine. On this voyage an episode 
occurred. In a small pirogue named Moses, Paine 
sailed up the creeks inland, into the region of 
Raleigh's lost colony, and bought up casks of tar 
until he had enough to fill the sloop's hold. If 
charged more than he was inclined to pay for 
bringing the casks down in boats, Paine had an 
idea of forming a raft with rope coiled in the 
stern of his boat. The planters laughed, but a 
youth of twenty is fertile in resources. He strapped 
forty-four tar barrels in a raft and on high tide 
started them downstream. At first all went well; 
the casks kept in the channel as the ebb tide took 
them toward the sea. Paine stood at the stern 
of his boat, steering and directing the sailors at 
the thwarts. They floated down until slack water, 
when stumps in the creek became so thick they 
could make no headway. A hurricane set in, and 
before the next ebb tide, night was upon them; 
but the raft was still intact and out of danger. 
The lanterns being lighted for a warning, folks 
[ 109 1 



Two Men of Taunton 



along the shore could see them bobbing about all 
night; passing boatmen hailed the young captain 
with gibes. When morning broke, casks of tar 
were scattered over the stream like wild colts es- 
caped from a corral. The tide was playing havoc 
with them, and from the shore men tauntingly 
inquired how he enjoyed rafting tar barrels. 
Shouting and cursing, the crew took boats for a 
round-up, pursuing each separate barrel. Three 
days later, the cargo was loaded on board the 
sloop, and Cap'n Paine turned in for a long- 
delayed sleep. That night four drunken "tar- 
heels" came aboard the Dolphin with malicious 
intent. The captain was aroused, and in his keen- 
edged nautical vocabulary ordered the boarders 
to clear. One of them hit him on the cheek with 
a black bottle, giving Paine a lifelong reminder of 
his trip. Twenty years later, when Josiah Crocker 
of Taunton came home from Philadelphia and 
told Mrs. Paine of seeing her husband there, the 
wife sat down and wrote: "I hear you have let 
your hair grow long and I suppose I shall not 
know you when you return. I hope the scar on 
your face will look the same." 

Paine landed the tar barrels safely in Boston. 
Though the market was slack, and profits small, 
he took to the business and other voyages followed. 
Once he remained away for nine months, buy- 
ing and selling commodities, and, incidentally, 
[ no] 



Adventures by Sea and Forest 

deer-hunting with rice-planters' daughters. Time 
slipped by; he sent home letters intimating that 
"Sam Duncan's daughter" was making life 
pleasant for him, adding, "I sometimes think I 
should remain in the Carolinas if it were not on 
the borders of Purgatory." 

When, the last of November, 1 75 3 , he came home 
and had sold his cargo to advantage, his wander- 
ing spirit prompted a trip to Europe. For several 
weeks he visited the wharves and searched the 
"News-Letter" and "Post "for a seaworthy ves- 
sel. At length, he heard of a sloop of thirty 
tons, the Hannah, which he chartered at twenty 
pounds a month. After scraping her bottom, tar- 
ring the ropes, salting the mast, and filling the 
lazaretto with lobscouse, hard-tack, "tongues and 
sounds," "salt hoss," and other delicacies of a 
sailor's "whack," Cap'n Paine secured an "Al- 
gerine Pass"; piped all hands on deck; asked a 
blessing on the trip, and weighed anchor for Caro- 
lina carrying a load of brick, meal, ropes, and 
pottery. He took along his father's negro slave, 
"London," whom he afterwards sold, for he was 
bent on business and had no scruple against the 
traffic in "human cattle." 

A sloop does not require so large a crew as a 
schooner; but there is more strain on the mast, 
which gave excitement during the voyage and 
compelled a sharp eye for weather changes. 

[ "I] 



Two Men of Taunton 



Thirty days after leaving Carolina, he sighted 
" phyall Light." Spending a few days at Fayal, he 
found no market there for his cargo and hoisted 
sail for Cadiz. Marching up the Calle del Ruiz, he 
stared at the strangeness of the sights, the tiny 
sidewalks, the iron grilles of the stone houses, 
through which sefioritas " sympdticas y graciosas " 
were peering out and talking in musical cadence. 
He drank his sherry to the dregs; jumped away 
from the lizards which sprang from the trees and 
walls to his shoulders ; went to bull-fights (leaving 
his strongbox with the English consul), and visited 
the churches to behold the marvellous paintings of 
Murillo. The pesetas and Johannos received for 
his cargo did not jingle long in his pockets. Turn- 
ing his ready money into oranges, lemons, figs, 
and bottles of Madeira, he sailed up to England, 
giving the coast of France a wide berth, lest some 
French privateer should capture him under pre- 
text of the hostilities then existing between the 
two countries. In London he bought a large re- 
peating watch, now preserved in the Massachusetts 
Historical Society's collection. The colonial fig- 
ures on its dial seem to speak of that wonderful 
city which would appeal to the mind of an Amer- 
ican youth of twenty-four, waxen to impression — 
the London of George II, of Goldsmith and Field- 
ing, Garrick and Sterne, Reynolds and Johnson. 
No sooner had he reached Boston, greeted his 

[ 112] 



Adventures by Sea and Forest 

friends, and disposed of his cargo, than he must 
sail again, this time to the North Atlantic on a 
whaling voyage, patterning after his grandfather. 
He was master of the good ship Seaflower, and 
recorded this prayer as he left the wharves of his 
native town: "And so God send good success to 
the Seaflower and her company." He took aboard 
a harpooner at Provincetown, and was away all 
summer. 

Again let us pause to look at Paine, now aged 
twenty-four, hunting whales off Greenland. In 
tarpaulins and billycock hat, beard half-grown, 
he gives orders to his crew. Spy-glass in hand, 
he mans tlie tiller, or from the rocking crow's-nest 
shouts, "Thar she blows." He orders the boats 
lowered away, the line paid out. His keen eye 
follows the harpooner as he hurls the toggle-iron. 
He is towed many leagues, often in danger of 
being upset. When the whale is made fast along- 
side, he superintends cutting the blubber and 
trying it out in vats on board. In the fall he re- 
turns with a fare of oil, vv^halebone, and amber- 
gris, of which the lay gives him a comfortable 
profit. 

The rough crew were hardly companions for 
the captain. On these voyages we imagine Paine 
sat much by himself, watching Mother Carey's 
chickens chattering in his wake, on the trailing 
meadows of sargasso, the playful dolphins, the 

[ 113] 



Two Men of Taunton 



monster "leather-back," or flying-fish shimmer- 
ing over the waves to fall helplessly upon his deck. 
He likely repeated the Latin proverb — "Nun- 
quam minus solus quam solusj'^ or after nightfall 
sang some favorite chanty, or better, hummed 
Addison's grand hymn to the stars : 

"Forever singing as they shine, 
The hand that made us is Divine." 

At sea, in a raging storm, lashed to a mast or 
wrestling with the helm, as the lightning flashes, 
and seas rush over the deck (at any moment liable 
to be sent to Davy Jones's locker) ; then, if ever, 
the awakened spirit is aroused to prayer and a 
vision of eternal truths and begets the missionary 
impulse. After two years of deep-water medita- 
tions, and communion with the infinite loneliness 
of waves and stars, the clerical instinct implanted 
in him asserted itself. Did not the clergy keep the 
torch of enlightenment from flickering out ? he 
reasoned. Was there not a vast company in every 
conmiunity who would rather say "amen" than 
think out problems for themselves ] The minister 
was a leader, the inspirer of moral, social, and edu- 
cational activities; he prepared youths for college; 
enjoyed the confidence and sympathy of emotional 
women; knew many family secrets; was granted 
a parsonage, where he welcomed donation parties 
bringing provisions, clothes, firewood, rings, and 

t "4 1 



Adventures by Sea and Forest 

gloves; was allowed the sacred privilege of pas- 
turing his horse in the town cemetery, and con- 
tinued forty, fifty, sixty years in the pulpit, some- 
times until the Bible was pushed off the desk by 
palsied fingers. 

So Paine came home from the sea to preach. 
His ancestors had fed on sermons. He was born 
with a text on his tongue; he had studied faith- 
fully, and lived as a conventional Bostonian, 
"diligent in business, fervent in spirit, serving the 
Lord." Preaching was his hereditary calling; and 
the hopes of grandmother, father, uncle, and sis- 
ters centred on this. He had been acquiring the 
ministerial habit for years, but the final train- 
ing was given by his mother's relative, Rev. Mr. 
Willard, at Lancaster, with whom he studied the- 
ology through one winter. Occasionally trying his 
powers in the neighboring pulpits, he presently 
secured a six weeks' charge at Shirley before the 
days of the Shaker invasion. The few people there 
were poor and had been attending church at Gro- 
ton. They found it a hardship to ford Squanna- 
cook River in their Sunday clothes ; consequently 
Shirley was set off as a separate parish in 1752. 
When Paine preached there in the spring of lySSy 
a part of the small congregation was obliged to 
stand, for the rude benches of the new meeting- 
house were insufficient for his audience. 

He wrote : 

[ "Sl 



Two Men of Taunton 



I find my present church in the middle of thirty 
acres of scrub wood. Upon my appearance, the 
people, who were sunning themselves under the trees, 
repaired to the seats, and I preached with satisfac- 
tion to them. 

Here again we see the youthful Paine, in white 
lappet and wristbands, blowing a horn to call his 
congregation together; preaching "satisfactory" 
sermons; bowing in prayer while the venerable 
deacons stand at the ends of the pews ; and lining 
out the psalm from the Bay Psalm Book, "The 
tidings strike a doleful sound." As preacher he 
was one step higher in dignity and standing than 
as teacher. The transient title of "Reverend" 
was probably used chiefly by his sisters. We find 
no record that he was ever ordained. When he 
stepped from the pulpit, he demitted the title 
and such emoluments as the people gave their 
ministers. 

Shirley and Lunenburg were on the "Crown 
Point Road," the old Indian trail from Boston 
to Canada. Paine saw the soldiers passing along 
this thoroughfare in the expeditions against French 
and Indians, and was infected with the military 
contagion so prevalent in the rival colonies. In 
the summer of 1755, a large fleet left France with 
soldiers for America to renew the contest for this 
continent. Interference with the fisheries was sap- 
ping the life-blood of New England. The French, 

[ 116] 



Adventures by Sea and Forest 

erecting a series of fortresses from Quebec to 
New Orleans, had aroused the enmity of the sea- 
board EngHsh toward them. 

A colonial conference had been held at Albany 
in 1754, upon the initiation of the far-sighted 
Franklin, to prevent the French from uniting 
Canada and New Orleans. At a conference at 
Alexandria, in the sunamer of 1755, it was re- 
solved to reduce Forts Duquesne, Niagara, and 
Crown Point. Baron Dieskau was in command 
of the French Canadians and Indians who were 
coming down through Lake Champlain. Among 
three thousand colonial English troops joining 
in an expedition against the French and Indians 
were John Stark, Governor Shirley, "Old Put," 
and Timothy Ruggles. One regiment was under 
Paine's relative. Colonel Samuel Willard. The 
young parson was eager for adventure and 
schemed for a military chaplaincy. In August, 
1755, while at Shirley, his wish was realized: 

To Robert Treat Paine, Gent'n, Greeting. 

Reposing especial Trust and, Confidence in your 
Loyalty, Piety and Learning, I do by these presents, 
constitute and appoint you, the said Rob't Treat 
Paine, to be chaplain of a Regiment of Foot, under 
the command of Col. Samuel Willard, being the 
forces now raising for reinforcing the Troops against 
Crown Point, of which Major General Johnson is 
Commander-in-Chief. 

[ 117] 



Two Men of Taunton 



You are therefore, carefully and diligently to do 
and perform the duty of Chaplain to the said Regi- 
ment, by your Public Prayers, Preaching and Pri- 
vate Exhortation, visiting the sick, and in all things 
as becometh you; and you are to follow such orders 
and instructions as you shall from time to time 
receive from the Commander-in-Chief of the said 
expedition, or other your superior officers, for which 
this is your warrant. 

Given under my hand and seal at Cambridge this 
8th day of August, 1755, in the 29th year of His 
Majesty's reign. 
S. Phips, 

by T. Clark, Dep. Secretary. 

The appointment received, Paine departed 
the first of September, 1755, to be a part of the 
army life for four months, and possibly to enjoy, 
at Albany, the company of the Van Rensselaers, 
Schuylers, Livingstons, and others, to whom his 
standing might give him introduction. 

To those who thrill with the memories of camp- 
life — the romance of sleeping under star-lighted 
skies on balsam boughs; fishing for bass and wall- 
eyed pike; cooking rabbits and quail in skillets 
over fagot fires ; fighting black flies and mosqui- 
toes; skylarking through the night; contracting 
chills and fever ; and foregoing improved domes- 
tic conveniences of civilization, — the luck of this 
adventurous youth seems enviable, as he starts 
[ "8] 



Adventures by Sea and Forest 

off to join that memorable expedition in which he 
found novelty, excitement, and service. The lakes 
and mountains of this Vermont valley constitute 
a scenery as romantic as any in America. It was 
bounteous in its physical gifts then as now.'^ To 
Paine's joy in camping-out was added a spice of 
danger. Savage shrieks and war-whoops came 
ululating across the lake, piercing the stillness of 
the night. There was always danger of sudden 
ambuscade, and of being burned or eaten by 
furious red skins. It was impossible to restrain 
the savages within the rules of civilized warfare. 
Prisoners on both sides were made away with as 
an economic measure. The English commander- 
in-chief was Sir William Johnson, a fine, wild Irish- 
man who had lived many years in the valley of the 
Mohawk as a chief. Dancing the war-dance, talk- 
ing readily in the native language, figuring as the 
groom in several interracial marriages, he had 
acquired great power. 

On the first of September, 1755, Paine, with 
musket and blanket, mounted his war-horse, and 
set out on his crusade, singing the mighty songs 
of Zion. Colonel Ephraim Williams, founder of 
Williams College and commander of the New 

* The Mohawks, who frequented it, were of such physical per- 
fection that once a hasty, unthinking, provincial New Yorker, 
travelling in Rome, exclaimed, as he looked upon Apollo Bel- 
vedere, "By Heaven, a young Mohawk warrior!" 

[ "9 I 



Two Men of Taunton 



England trcx)ps, wrote home during the cam- 
paign: 

We are a wicked, profane army, especially the 
New York and Rhode Island troops. Nothing to be 
heard among a great part of them but the language 
of Hell. 

Prayers, sermons, and psalm-singing were confined 
chiefly to the Massachusetts soldiers. Paine ar- 
rived in time to bury the dead after the engage- 
ment in which Baron Dieskau was severely 
wounded and Colonel Williams killed. The ex- 
perience of this excursion is told in a whimsical, 
abridged letter, suggesting an acquaintance with 
Dean Swift and Rabelais, which the young minis- 
ter sent home in November, 1755 : 

About the latter end of summer, I sat out accom- 
panied with some persons of quality, each one pro- 
perly accoutred with firearms and blankets. I shall 
not trouble you with occurrences near home — every 
one meets with them — but after a travel of some 
days we came into a fine country, where the earth 
was covered with produce not indebted to ye labor 
of ye husbandman. The highways through this 
country are laid out in a very spacious manner, being 
in most places 20, 30, yea 100 feet wide, and in many 
places very plentifully paved; but the country being 
new, the paving work seems not to be completed, for 
so many places the rich fat soil proves very offen- 
sive to the foot of the travailer; however, there is 
[ 120 ] 



Adventures by Sea and Forest 

abundant provision for water, which is so situated 
that a foot-traveler cannot avoid washing himself. 
After a long travel, we came to a city so extraor- 
dinary it deserves the minutest description. We 
arrived about dark and took quarters at a friend's 
house for some considerable time. This wonderful 
city by enquiry I learned has not been long known 
to our part of the world, yet has very lately settled 
a considerable correspondence that way. 'T is very 
secretly seated between two long ranges of lofty 
mountains, capable of being discovered by none 
distant except the sun, who in his meridian altitude 
peeps through the clouds of smoke and sulphurous 
vapors that frequently overhang this place. It 
stands at the head of a long narrow lake, whose 
stagnant waters afford but a livid prospect; 't is 
said by some that it leads directly to Purgatory at 
the other end, and so one would think to see the 
innumerable ferry boats which we have prepared 
to waft the inhabitants forward. The land here is 
not tilled, though it is excellently manured, they 
raise no provision but have it transported from other 
parts that at times you would think you were in 
Lubberland and again that you were on a maroon 
island. The no. of inhabitants it is impossible to 
tell, as, for like the Ocean 't is perpetually chang- 
ing without any sign of stability. The inhabitants 
I observe are chiefly males, for 't is said the women 
that come here all turn to men immediately, so that 
this place seems to put on opposition to the land of 
the Amazons, and as they mark themselves by cut- 
[ 121 ] 



Two Men of Taunton 



ting off the right breast for the convenience of shoot- 
ing the bow, these are no less remarkable for cutting 
off natural affection for the convenience of living 
careless lives. 

Upon my first arrival, I found only a small tract 
of abt 22 acres compactly settled and the inhabit- 
ants strictly confined within these narrow limits, 
but after a while the strangest phenomena appeared 
that has ever been heard of since the men that were 
produced from the serpent's teeth. Multitudes 
seemed to be produced immediately — whether 
't was the clouds, the lake, the fog, or the earth that 
swarmed forth inhabitants 't were hard to tell, they 
pitched their residence somewhat distant from the 
old city, when Nature, that spontaneously produced 
men seemed as fertile in habitations. In the course 
of one night whole streets of houses would spring 
up out of the earth and the rubbish of the wilderness 
rise up into beauteous towns. So that in a short 
space of time a new city was found exceeding in 
cleanness and nearly equal for numbers to the for- 
mer. But who can describe the various accomoda- 
tions and conveniences of living used in this place? 
in one part you might behold rows of habitations 
appearing like whited sepulchres, the same stuff 
that among us proves fatal to villains, here screens 
them from trouble; in another place you might see a 
cave or hole in the rocks ; some huge poles of brush 
and dirt served to fend off the cold and rain — 
others had long rows of buildings that much resem- 
ble our meeting-house sheds ; but the better sort of 
[ 122 ] 



Adventures by Sea and Forest 

people have houses built according to certain rules 
of architecture in practice here; the doors are low 
and the roofs level, some spread them with hides 
and sheep-skins, though others neglect it for the 
benefit of the light — their windows are made 
lengthwise and some reach from side to side; there 
are very few that wainscot, paper or plaister their 
rooms, by reason they prefer the pine scented bal- 
sam their timber affords. Their lodging is various, 
some using an artificial couch and others preferring 
the feathers the land produces, so that truly may it 
be said of some that their houses are fir and their bed 
is green. As for their food, they go much on roast 
meat, and therefore, they are generally provided with 
spits which some hang on a part of their appafel. 
Others again eat a sort of bread called by them allow- 
ance, which is a medley of almost everything, and 
agrees well with their constitutions, but when any of 
the parts are wanting, especially some that are called 
essential, it produces strange effects, breeding flatu- 
lency in the bowels, maggots in the brain, delusion, 
distraction, strange volubility of tongue and disaf- 
fection among intimates. As for their apparel, that 
likewise is very various, tho' there seems to be no 
standard which, different from other parts of the 
world, is inimitable. 'T is customary for men of 
dispatch to have their Hatts shod with gold and sil- 
ver (that being an article they have no other use for 
here) in order to cut the fog and smoke which would 
otherwise much impede their passage. Some wear 
long tails to their wiggs, wh is found very beneficial 
[ 123 ] 



Two Men of Taunton 



here to steady their heads; there are some few such 
enemies to dirt (the natural product of the place) 
that they continually carry their towels near their 
hands. There is one particular which I could not 
determine, whether it was peculiar to their Bodies 
or whether it was part of their apparell and that is 
a large horn generally growing on the right side. 
'T would be natural to think it a real part of their 
body if it grew on their heads, but it is generally 
thought by strangers to be an excresence, for upon 
examination they are found to contain a sort of 
black, subtile penetrating powder no ways akin to 
their constitutions, tho' some have said that this is 
their brains, and because it is observed they have 
another instrument of strange form and composition 
with wch only they hold arguments and disputes; 
and 't is seen that when they use them they put this 
powerful Trade into it which renders their argument 
very penetrating and when they argue matters of 
consequence they add a small leaden composition, 
taken from a neighboring receptacle to this brain, 
wh often renders their arguments decisive & hence 
't is inferred that leaden brained men are most suit- 
able inhabitants of this city. Everything here is done 
by the sound of bells, but then they are different 
from ours, being a composition of wood and leather 
and are carried about for various uses; early in the 
morning you'll hear them sounding all about, upon 
which the inhabitants begin to muster; ab't an hour 
after, they sound again at stated places, upon which 
there walks out one of a different garb from all the 
[ 124 ] 



Adventures by Sea and Forest 

rest. I should not have judged him an inhabitant, 
or anything but a deity here, and after standing a 
while in ye stated place, ye people gathered about 
him, he stood a while and said something, but by 
comparing his looks with that of the bystanders, I 
could not make out what he was after. By the sound 
of these bells you see them moving back and forth, 
great numbers of them moving on to a certain place, 
where 't was said they were employed in work of 
great importance. I went with them and saw a large 
pile of dirt and wood wh the people were tumbling 
and tossing about, which resembled a Pismire's hill 
the nearest of anything, for 't was said they pro- 
posed to lay up food there for the winter. This 
seemed to be their chief employment, except some 
that stood at distance round them to give notice of 
the appearance of any enemy. 

This expedition against Crown Point was a 
failure. The enemy might have been whipped in 
open battle, but cold, disease, and hunger were 
more than a match for Sir William Johnson's 
ill-equipped, ill-fed army. Many deserted when 
November winds began to chili their bones. The 
army broke camp in December and retreat was 
sounded till a more auspicious season. Paine left 
his relative, Samuel Willard, buried on the field 
of battle, and, after stopping over at Springfield 
to take part in the wedding of a college friend, 
arrived in Boston on New Year's Day. Those 

[ I2S] 



Two Men of Taunton 



four months of life with an army in the mountains 
had a new influence upon him. 

We do not hear more of Paine as a . clergy- 
man (though he continued to look like one), and 
was always thereafter a prominent figure in the 
"Amen Corner." His was a religious life. He fol- 
lowed beaten paths until he began to think for 
himself, when he developed a strong tendency 
to individualize. Only for a few months as an of- 
ficer of the established church did he feel respons- 
ible for the beliefs of others ; as layman, his own 
beliefs expanded with his political views. His 
temperament was not adapted to the staid sobri- 
ety of the cloth. A doubt arose as to whether he 
was made for the orthodox pulpit when he read 
Bolingbroke, Hume, Gibbon (especially his twelfth 
chapter), Voltaire, and Diderot. As with John 
Adams, the doctrines of Calvinism seemed harsh 
to his reasoning mind. He was suspected of Ar- 
minian leanings. Fate had other work for him, 
or he might have spent his days as a respectable, 
conventional, well-to-do parson of the eighteenth 
century, with his name long since drifted quietly 
down the harbor of memory out into the sea of 
oblivion. 

Soon after Paine's return from Crown Point, 
Colonel Washington, fresh from Braddock's de- 
feat on the Ohio, came up to Boston (which then 
covered 780 acres, not so large a territory as 

[ 126] 



Adventures by Sea and Forest 

his brother's plantation at Mount Vernon) and 
stopped at the Cromwell's Head Tavern, a few- 
doors from Paine's home on School Street. Pre- 
sumably, Colonel Washington and Captain Paine 
exchanged their experiences in the recent cam- 
paigns, and commenced a friendship which, ten 
years later, was renewed on a more important 
occasion.^ 

^ Parson Weems records that the only person who ever got 
the best of Washington in personal combat was a man named 
" Paine. " But that was at Alexandria. 



Chapter VII 
A Family of Colonels 

You may relish him more in the soldier than in the scholar. — Othello. 

A THIRST for military glory is the vice of 
the most exalted characters," declares the 
historian Gibbon. During the ambitious 
days of the Civil War, Artemus Ward referred 
to a regiment composed entirely of colonels, save 
a single private. The title of colonel sat jaun- 
tily on a Leonard. In the first hundred and 
fifty years of New England's history, when the 
law obliged every man to keep by him flintlock, 
knapsack, and ammunition (being subject to mil- 
itary duty), the colonel of the regiment competed 
with the parson as the foremost citizen. The 
Leonards, in their fondness for ofiice-holding, did 
not overlook these military positions ; nearly every 
head of this family held some sort of martial 
rank; James was exempted from service in 1662, 
being a "bloomer" who made iron implements 
of warfare. Ensign Leonard paid his soldiers in 
bar iron after Philip's War. Thomas Leonard was 
captain of the First Company in 1691 ; James, 
first lieutenant, and George, captain. Thomas, 
in 1709, was appointed major, by which title he 
was distinguished from his son — Colonel George. 
[ 128] 



A Family of Colonels 



Ephraim, son of the major, became colonel in 
1757; in 1772, his son, our Daniel, was elected 
lieutenant-colonel of this regiment and known as 
"Colonel Leonard" until, in Bermuda days, he 
exchanged this title for "Judge." The field offi- 
cers of the Taunton Regiment in 1762 were: Sam- 
uel White, colonel; George Leonard, lieutenant- 
colonel; Thomas Mowry and Seth Williams, 
majors. In 1772, the field officers were: George 
Leonard, colonel; Daniel Leonard, lieutenant- 
colonel; George Williams and Apollos Leonard, 
majors. 

Every boy instinctively plays "soldier," more 
particularly when the son and nephew of colonels. 
The glitter of military glory naturally appealed 
to Daniel, who, as a boy, attended the muster of 
the trainbands and followed their manoeuvres 
studiously. As George Washington, in youth, 
drilled and marshalled his play-fellows about 
Fairfax Court-House, so we see Daniel, imitating 
his elders, holding miniature reviews on muster- 
day behind the horse-sheds at Oakland, Norton, 
or Taunton Green, passing the countersign and 
leading his boy brigade, armed with brooms, hoe- 
handles, and cordwood sticks, and topped with 
paper helmets, as they march, "hay foot, straw 
foot," about the field or charge helter-skelter into 
a flock of sheep, or the fruit trees of a neighbor's 
orchard. 

I 129 J 



Two Men of Taunton 



Washington, honored for his brilHant conduct 
on the Braddock retreat, coming to visit Governor 
Shirley in 1756, aroused enthusiasm for war among 
the rising generation. Daniel was sixteen, when 
that serious-minded young Virginian visited Bos- 
ton. Colonel Washington was a commanding 
figure, in his uniform of buff and blue. Some older 
person often seems to be the realization of unful- 
filled ideals, and let us imagine young Leonard, 
about to enter Harvard, filled with emulation at 
the sight of the illustrious Southerner. 

The pomp and circumstance of war especially 
charm a youth in his teens. While at college, the 
story of Wolfe at Quebec fired the students to 
form militar}^ companies. By virtue of his class 
rank, to which attention has been already called, 
Daniel was second in command of the "Harvard 
Fencibles," who exercised much as the High 
School Cadets do now, parading once a week 
upon the Common. Fresh from classic studies 
he marched around Cambridge with visions of 
Caesar exhorting his legions in Britain, or Xeno- 
phon leading the Ten Thousand back to the Hel- 
lespont. 

During his legislative career, he was elected 
lieutenant-colonel of the local regiment, Governor 
Hutchinson nodding assent. Leonard, who was 
his father and grandfather polished up, naturally 
sought this position, since so many of his own 
[ 130 ] 




GOVERXOR THOMAS HUTCHINSOI 



A Family of Colonels 



family and connections were officers. In his early 
thirties, he makes a bright picture in his scar- 
let coat, buckskin breeches, nankeen waistcoat, 
silver-hilted sword, and white-topped boots. We 
ean see him as he deploys the platoons of militia 
around the Green at the summer muster, while 
the "women folks" stuff tow in their ears to shut 
out the "horrid rattle of the drums"; or as he 
visits the temporary booths to purchase the mus- 
ter refreshments of gingerbread and new rum; 
or gallantly offers his snuff-box — " If you please, 
my lady" — while a curtsey is dropped in 
answer. 

As the Revolution came on, the Leonards were 
divided in allegiance — the townsfolk whispered 
that it was to preserve their property, on which- 
ever side the fortunes ^\{ the war should fall. 
When Daniel was besieged in Boston, he was not 
listed among the officers of "The Royal Ameri- 
can Associators" (as the regiment of gentleman 
volunteers under Brigadier Ruggles was called).^ 
When W^ashington tightened his siege-lines, in 
the winter of 1775-76, Leonard was drafted in 
Boston among several thousands who saw no 
service, for General Gage raised the siege by flight. 
Apparently Leonard lacked heart to take arms 

* These troops drilled every morning on the Common, wear- 
ing white sashes on the left arm to distinguish them from the 
King's Regulars. 

[ 131] 



AND THEN THE LOVER 



Chapter VIII 
Hanging the Shingles 

I never was ruined but twice; once when I lost a lawsuit and once 
when I gained one. — Voltaire. 

THE same Emerson who had complained 
of being a "victim of miscellany" gave 
these hints to a young man seeking his 
counsel: "Teach a little, farm a while, drive a 
tin-peddler's cart a season, keep store, go to 
Congress, preach a year, and lead the experi- 
mental life." Paine's life was so "experimental" 
that; a critic, surveying his variegated career, 
might have feared his drowning in the waters of 
Unstability. His spirit was ever fluid and moving; 
his hungry brain biting into every phase of exist- 
ence. Forestalling Emerson, he taught a little, 
preached a little, and went to Congress ; his farm- 
ing was on a scale too small for great financial loss ; 
instead of the corner grocery and peddler's cart, 
he went trading on the high seas and harpooning 
whales; with Yankee adaptability, he carried a 
transit and chain as surveyor; mended clocks, 
dabbled with chemistry, and finally rested in the 
lap of the law. Thus mixing with men and keeping 
his eyes open, his mind was reacting to different 
stimuli and all the while building upon itself as 
he came to learn the Universal Laws. When he 

[ 137 1 



Two Men of Taunton 



signed the Declaration his name stood for well- 
rounded experience. 

Reared in a family not only above want, but 
wealthy enough to be envied, the boy grew up 
with prospects of a place among the well-to-do. 
In the year that he was graduated from college 
the tide of fortune ebbed, and left his father 
stranded on the beach of Poverty. This fall to 
penury from plenty, he met courageously. To 
bridge over the hard times, he first sought a posi- 
tion as teacher, an employment profitable to 
youth in gaining knowledge of human nature, 
habits of patience, concentration, self-control, 
and familiarity with platform speaking. In teach- 
ing others, he was teaching himself. A gradu- 
ate of the Latin School, and living next door, he 
readily secured a position there as usher in the 
year 1750, for which service the town of Boston 
paid fifty pounds a quarter.^ 

* Oliver Goldsmith, a year older than Paine, was graduated 
from Trinity College and afterwards became an usher there. 
His experiences he utilizes in the "Vicar of Wakefield": 

I have been an usher to a boarding-school myself; and may I die 
by an anodyne necklace, but I had rather be an under-turnkey at 
Newgate! I was up early and late; I was brow-beat by the master; hated 
for my ugly face by the mistress; worried by the boys within; and never 
permitted to stir out to meet civility abroad. But are you sure you are 
fit for a school? Let me examine you a little. "Have you been bred 
apprentice to the business?" "No." "Then you won't do for a school." 
"Can you dress the boys' hair?" "No." "Then you won't do for a 
school." "Have you had the small-pox ?" "No." "Then you won't do 
for a school." "Can you lie three in a bed?" "No." "Then you will 
never do for a school." "Have you got a good stomach?" "Yes." 
"Then you will by no means do for a school." 

[ 138 ] 



Hanging the Shingles 



Paine left the Latin School in 1750, and the next 
winter went to teach a school at Lunenburg. 
Rattan well in hand, he stood his ground and 
chased the unruly pupil over and under the benches 
or out of the window if need be. After two ses- 
sions with ferule and primer, he concluded that he 
might better make his way in the world by ship- 
ping in one of his father's vessels. His three years 
of maritime wanderings and his transit of the 
pulpit have been given in the chapter on adven- 
ture which ran somewhat ahead of our story to 
conform with the Seven Ages. Robert combined a 
study of law and gospel under Samuel Willard at 
Lancaster, followed by a year of law under Benja- 
min Pratt. In 1750, there was lingering doubt as to 
the law being a holy calling, though the making 
of an attorney was something akin to the mak- 
ing of a minister. The youth was apprenticed to 
some popular justice who usually had one or 
more fledglings under his eye. In lieu of copying 
sermons and hymns, studying concordances and 
catechisms, the tadpole lawyer copied writs and 
leases, and burned the tallow dip over Coke and 
Littleton, Hawkins's "Pleas of the Crown," 
Justinian's "Institutes," and Sackville's Reports. 
He was called on to sweep and dust the library, 
harness the horse, brush boots, shovel snow, weed 
turnips, chop wood, and perform a thousand petty 
disagreeables of life, which, however, were sweet- 

[ 139] 



Two Men of Taunton 



ened by surreptitious love-making with the mas- 
ter's daughter. The very week of his admission to 
the Boston Bar, in May, i757,Paine's father died 
insolvent; and he found himself, aged twenty- 
six, the head of the family and worth less than 
nothing. 

Death brings about a readjustment of affairs. 
The young man at once made plans to liquidate his 
legacy of debt. His eldest sister was now married 
to a distiller, which insured her ample comfort, 
and his younger sister was the only immediate con- 
nection looking to him for support. The disposal 
of property at Falmouth, which had come by his 
grandfather, required him to spend some time 
there, attending to business, but looking in vain 
for additional practice. 

In the year 1758, John Adams chronicles a dole- 
ful colloquy of Paine and Quincy: 

Bob Paine: "I have ruined myself by a too eager 
pursuit of wisdom. I have now neither health enough 
for an active life nor knowledge enough for a sedent- 
ive one." 

Josiah Quincy: "We shall never make your great 
fellows." 

Thus Paine and Quincy both are verging to de- 
spair. 

Paine: "If I attempt a composition, my thoughts 
are slow & dull." 

Paine is discouraged, and Quincy has not courage 

[ 140 ] 



Hanging the Shingles 



enough to harbor a thought of acquiring a great 
character. In short, none of them have a foundation 
that will support them. . . . Paine's face has lost 
its bloom, & his eye its vivacity & fire; his eye is 
weak, his countenance pale, & his attention unsteady; 
and, what is worse, he suflFers this decline of health 
to retard & almost to stop his studies. . . . 

Paine (to me): "You don't intend to be a sage, I 
suppose .f"' Oh, Paine has not penetration to reach 
the bottom of my mind. He don't know me; next 
time I will answer him, & say; "No, Knowledge 
enough to keep out of fire and water is all that I aim 
at." 

Seeking new fields, he now looked tov/ard the 
home of his paternal ancestors, as before he had 
gone into the neighborhood of his mother's people 
to teach and preach. Taunton was the foremost 
town of southern Massachusetts ; there he stopped 
to bait his horse on his way from Boston to 
Barnstable. In June, 1755, Paine came down to 
a muster with Gordon Chandler (whose daughter 
married a Leonard), and visited his college friend, 
George Leonard. In March, 1758, Paine and Dick 
Cranch rode down to Taunton, attended the 
Inferior Court, ate breakfast with Squire White, 
and were greeted with curtseys by his charming 
daughters. As the young men rode home and 
talked over the outlook for lawyers, Paine thought 
how fine it would look to hang his shingle under 

[ 141 1 



Two Men of Taunton 



that of Squire White, and the rosy future was 
brightened by the eyes of the daughter, Anna. 
Squire White, formerly Hving in Weymouth, had 
been fitted for Harvard by his pastor. Rev. 
Thomas Paine, Robert's father. 

Transplanting is usually beneficial. To remain 
root-bound in one's birthplace, enslaved to fixed 
conditions, forbids expansion. The acorn sprout- 
ing under the shade of the parent oak is spindling; 
the acorn carried by the blue jay to the open field 
grows stalwart. In the new environment, not 
only must the newcomer struggle to keep his head 
above the water of competition (which brings 
into action all his latent powers), but he is also 
freed from the handicap of village gossip peddling 
abroad the mistakes of youth. 

Paine, bringing his Boston training into the 
rural town, began to thrive. His first case in 
Bristol County Court-House grew out of litigation 
over land left him by his father in Dartmouth. 
After a while he kept a horse in Dr. McKinstry's 
pasture, and with saddle-bags and legal books he 
would ride about the country, to Quaker meetings 
and turkey suppers, or bait his horse at the homes 
of men who might become his clients, or some 
day send him to Congress. From his diary, we 
find him dining with Chief Justice Hutchinson 
at Milton, with Judge Oliver at Middleboro, 
Nathaniel Ray Thomas at Marshfield, Colonel 
[ 142 ] 



Hanging the Shingles 



Doty at Stoughton, Mr. Edson at Bridgewater, 
Edward Winslow and Colonel Watson at Ply- 
mouth, John Rowe in Boston, and with other dis- 
tinguished citizens at Providence, Newport, and 
Barnstable. This exercise on horseback gave him 
a wholesome view of life; it was good for his liver. 
With the birds singing in the trees, the rabbits 
bobbing across the highway, quails piping in the 
meadow, his lungs full of ozone, and quick blood 
thrilling his whole body, he rode out of melan- 
choly into gladness. And he was able to save a 
pound sterling now and then to send to sister 
Eunice. The law did not absorb all his time; to 
piece out, he became Surveyor of Highways, and 
had a job when Colonel White indicted the town 
for maintaining a menace to public safety by neg- 
lect of Neck-o'-Land Bridge. Soon the sun began 
to shine with new brilliancy for the young barris- 
ter; clients multiplied. 

Among the notable cases discussed by lawyers 
during Paine's early years in Taunton was the trial 
in 1 76 1 of the slave, Peggy, a spinster of Swanzea, 
who drowned her two children, Violet and Cato. 
In 1762, "Seth Cooper did challenge advisedly, 
wickedly, and corruptly Benjamin Marvel to fight 
a duel," for which he was convicted and iined.^ In 

* A letter written in 1762 by Jonathan Sewall, Attorney- 
General of the Province, to his college friend, Paine, and the 
amusing reply, mirror men and matters then uppermost in the 

[ 143] 



Two Men of Taunton 



1763, Henry Grossman went to Swanzea and came 
home with another man's horse, for which he was 
set on the gallows with a rope around his neck, 
whipped ten stripes and compelled to pay three 
times the value of the horse (£27). Publicity of 
punishment had not been abolished. Frail and be- 
trayed women were punished at the whipping-post 
and exposed to the gibes of town loafers. In 1764, 
when execution of judgment was summary and 

public mind and recall half-forgotten incidents to the students 
of the Revolutionary period. 

Brother Bob, — Pray be so kind as to deliver the enclosed [prob- 
ably a legal document] to a Catch-pole [a constable]; and when you can 
give me an opportunity to cancel the obligation, please to command 
me freely; your hearty friend, &c. — How is the harvest in your part 
of the vineyard? Which side do you take in the political controversy? 
What think you of coin? What of writs of assistance? What of his 

honour, the L ? What of Otis? What of Thatcher? What of 

Coke, the cobbler? What think you of bedlam for political madmen? 
What think you of patriotism? What think you of disappointed am- 
bition? What think you of the fable of the bees? What — ? Send me 
your thoughts on these questions, and I will send you fifty more. 

Jonathan Sewall. 

Charlestown, nth Feb., 1762. 

Friend Jonathan, — I have just received yours, and shall take, 
special care of the enclosed. Your queries demand an immediate answer, 
in which I hope you will find a satisfactory display of the orthodoxy of 
my mind. To first query, I answer, the old account is reversed, for the 
harvest is small and the labourers are many, and there are many little 
foxes that spoil the vines. To 2nd query, I reply the right side. To the 
3d question, I say, what hungry men do of food, if they can get any, 
never dispute the quality or the price. I reply to the 4th inquiry, never 
was more need of them; I shall soon apply for one to get me a hip-meet. 
Question 5th: What of his honor, the L. G.? I answer, as the son of 
Sirach said, all things cannot be in vain, because man is not immortal — 
what is brighter than the sun? Yet the light thereof faileth. What of 
Otis? Answer; what the virtuosi do of Lemory's concave mirror, which 
burns everything which cannot be melted. What of Thatcher? Answer: 

[ 144 1 



Hanging the Shingles 



each lawyer his own justice, this legal item bears 
witness that Paine's abhorrence of profanity in 
college was not outgrown. 

1764 20th February. 

In the fourth year of his Majesty's reign, Thomas 
Tobey was convicted by his own confession of swear- 
ing two profane oaths in the town of Taunton, and 
was sentenced to pay four shillings for the first and 
one shilling for the second. Before me. 

Rob't T. Paine {Jus Pac). 

There were frequent cases of smuggling, and other 
attempts to evade the revenue laws, in which 
Paine appears as counsel. In 1765, the Stamp 
Act alarmed the legal fraternity. Paine, in his 
journal, wrote November i, 1765, "A dark, de- 
al Jacob said of his son Dan, as a serpent in the way he biteth the horse's 
heels, so that his rider falleth backward. What of Coke, the cobbler? 
That he is dignified with a title which many others deserve more. 
What of bedlam for political madmen? It will by no means do; being 
already occupied by madmen of a more sacred profession. What of 
patriotism? As I do of the balance master's art, very few have virtue 
enough, in the Roman sense, to keep themselves perpendicular. What 
of disapointed ambition? Consult your own mind, on having no reply 
to this question. What of the fable of the bees? It proves that good old 
word, the wrath of man shall praise the Lord. Last question, What — ? 
It is the recapitulation of all the others. Thus I have gone through 
my catechism, and according to the good rule of education, the next 
step is to learn it with proofs; in which I shall hardly fail of success, if 
I keep to that standard. As for the fifty questions more with which 
you threaten me, I beg when you execute it, you would observe a modern 
rule of answering them yourself as you go along; in the mean time con- 
ceive yourself obliged to answer these small queries. What think you 
of our — ? of our Act? — of what strange compound, soul and body? 
and of mankind? Expecting to see your agreeable Democritical visage, 
I subscribe, your fellow-gazer and friend, 

R. T. P. 



[ 14s 1 



Two Men of Taunton 



structive fog at dawn as if Nature mourned the 
dreaded day." ^ Betting was not carried on in 
pounds and shillings with carefully calculated 
odds, but a turkey supper would be put up against 
a hogshead of rum. A suit was brought to court 
on which a loser declined to pay his wager. The 
court held that only private honor could compel 
payment of such a debt. 

Barristers were the highest rank of lawyers. 
In 1768, there were twenty-iive in Massachusetts, 
of whom the three in Bristol County were Samuel 
White, Robert Treat Paine, and Daniel Leonard. 
Legal pickings in Taunton could not supply a 
living; so together they rode on their circuits, 
seeking clients in Plymouth, Barnstable, Provi- 
dence, and attended celebrated trials in Boston. 
While friendship might cease among the liti- 
gants when their case came into court, the coun- 
sel often grew better friends thereby. Paine and 
Leonard would strive mightily, argue vehemently, 
and after the session laugh and empty their glasses 
together at the bar of Bacchus.^ 

* Some lawyers were discussing the gloomy outlook at a tav- 
ern, when one dejectedly asked ^another, "What are we going 
to do now?" "Guess you better go to making brass buckles," 
interpolated the tavern-keeper, "as the raw stock won't cost 
you anything." 

2 If you would see how Paine or Leonard appeared as young 
lawyers, examine closely, in Reid's painting in the State House 
"Otis arguing the Writs of Assistance," the group of attorneys 
in the background. 

1 146] 



Hanging the Shingles 



At one time, Paine and John Adams were op- 
posing counsel at Martha's Vineyard, where the 
Mayhew family feud had become so shameless, it 
seemed to the visiting "off-islanders" that all 
"virtue, honor, decorum, and veracity" had fled 
to No Man's Land. 

Paine conducted a case in 1769, for Copley, the 
artist, who had become involved in a suit of long 
standing concerning a parcel of land on Beacon 
Hill, now occupied in part by the Somerset Club. 
What a pity that the then poor artist did not 
liquidate the lawyer's fee by painting Paine's 
portrait! But although Copley was making por- 
traits of Revere, Adams, and Hancock at about 
that time, Paine did not realize how he was miss- 
ing an opportunity of shining in art museums of 
later centuries. 

Since the founding of Taunton, it has seen but 
three executions for murder. The most noted 
was during Paine's early days there. On the morn- 
ing of June 4, 1763, as Elizabeth, sister of Dr. 
McKinstry, stooped to kindle the fire on the 
kitchen hearth, she was struck on the head with 
a flatiron and horribly mutilated with an axe, 
by a frenzied negro boy named Bristol. The mur- 
derer fled to the woods, was tracked, by a posse 
organized for pursuit, to Rehoboth, Swanzea, and 
Providence, and finally, after three days' chase, 
was captured in Newport, where, amid the numer- 

[147] 



Two Men of Taunton 



ous colored population, he had tried to conceal 
his identity. It was said he had been induced to 
believe that he could secure his freedom by killing 
one of the family. He laid the whole affair to 
the tavern-keeper's negro; but was overcome with 
remorse and repentance.^ The indictment read: 
" Bristol, servant of William McKinstry, not hav- 
ing God before his eyes, did assault one Eliza- 
beth McKinstry, in the peace of God, &c." He 
was convicted and sentenced to be hanged. The 
execution was set for November i. Paine, as 

^ Paine was coming down to Taunton when the news reached 
him of this tragedy. In a letter to his sister he says: 

The fact was committed on the morning I left you. I heard the news 
as I entered Taunton and you may well think I was received joyfully 
at the house, which I found full of curious spectators, confusion, anx- 
iety, and distress — she was living senseless — Dr. Tobey came and 
pronounced her wounds fatal — in the evening she died. The burthen 
of everything lay upon me — some things I must wait here till I see you. 
Five o'clock the next morning the coroner called to direct me to take 
the inquisition. About four o'clock Bristol, who had been taken at 
Newport, appeared, sullen, denied the fact as it was committed, and 
has since most penitently confessed to me and many others the fact, 
nearly as I exprest it in the newspaper, and said he had never had any 
anger against her, that she never treated him ill. 

Paine, being intimate in the McKinstry family, took a re- 
sponsible part in the conduct of the funeral. He speaks of the 
ceremony as follows: 

On Tuesday she was most decently interred, the largest and best 
regulated funeral in the country, six scholars her bearers, I one. There 
is nothing more particular that I can recollect amidst the incessant in- 
terruptions of court week. The Doctor extremely affected, but very de- 
cent; poor Mrs. McKinstry worked up into high hysterics; I was obliged 
from principles of humanity, with the assistance of her friends, to go 
inside and work up a most labored cheerfulness to keep her from fixed 
distemper. 

[ 148 ] 



Hanging the Shingles 



his counsel, pleaded "benefit of clergy," ^ and 
secured a reprieve of two weeks from Governor 
Bernard. As there was a lurking suspicion that a 
negro had no soul to save (an opinion held also by 
some in earlier ages in regard to woman), this act 
of Paine's seemed especially humane. 
The epitaph of the woman reads : 

Here lies ye body of Elizabeth McKinstry, basely 
murdered by a negro boy, June 4, 1763, aged 28. 
"Watch for ye know not the manner nor the moment 
of your death." 

One minister and one doctor will thrive in a 
small country town ; a lone lawyer may cleave the 
air in vain, when two would clip as merrily as a 
pair of sheep-shears. 

You ask me why lawyers are so much increased, 
Tho' most of the country already are fleeced? 
The reason, I'm sure, is most startlingly plain: 
Tho' sheep are oft sheared, yet the wool grows again. 
And tho' you think ever so odd of the matter, 
The oftener they're fleeced,the wool grows the better, 
Like downy-chinned boys, as oft I have heard. 
By frequently shaving obtain a large beard. 

* In old English days, a law was passed intended for the 
immunity of ministers, by which all who could read might re- 
ceive judicial clemency in mitigation of punishment. As a 
matter of usage, any one who was so accomplished as to read 
his own name, had opportunity to claim what was termed 
"benefit of clergy." 

[ 149 1 



Two Men of Taunton 



So long as the passions of envy, hate, maHce, and 
greed dwell in the human breast, so long will law- 
yers turn these passions to account for their 
mutual emolument. The two blades of the local 
shears in 1770 were Paine and Leonard. 

We imagine Leonard, about to descend into real 
life from the college Parnassus, was puzzled what 
career to choose. To be a doctor and know every 
ill and scar covered by the gay apparel of his 
fellow-townsmen; to be a minister and know the 
haunting fear, timid doubt, and heavy heartaches 
concealed under the forced smile; to be a law- 
yer and know who were writing wills and mort- 
gages, who were to be residuary legatees, who 
were in financial troubles, who were seeking petty 
vengeance; — there was a three-horned dilemma. 
He could look over the careers of a number of 
kinsmen who had acquired college degrees. His 
uncle, Nathaniel, had studied for the ministry; 
so had his cousin, Abiel, who graduated in the 
class of 1759. His cousin, George, graduating in 
1748, became a lawyer. Another cousin, Thomas, 
seemed to be the only one in the family with a 
taste for physic. 

Opening his eyes to the ways of the world, 
Daniel perceived that while a barber had a fixed 
price for dressing a cue, and a farm-hand a fixed 
wage for a day's work, the lawyer took all he 
could get, ate three good meals a day, wore fine 

[150] 



Hanging the Shingles 



clothes, rode in chaises, and commanded men's 
purses and votes. He could absorb wealth without 
creating it. For a hundred years after the settle- 
ment at Plymouth, there were no distinguished 
lawyers in the colony, though "common-sense 
justices" were found at almost every cross-roads. 
Then the call of the times was for constructive 
lawmakers, who could debate the fundamental 
issues on which a mighty nation was soon to 
rest. 

On leaving Cambridge, Daniel returned to 
Norton with an air of some importance. The fame 
of his fine Latin oration at Commencement gave 
him high standing, and at twenty-two years old 
he was chosen a selectman. This office was a sort 
of heirloom, his grandfather, father, uncle, and 
cousin having served their terms. 

Daniel had notions of being a gentleman, hold- 
ing office, and gaining wealth by absorption, 
rather than extracting it from the soil as his an- 
cestors had done. He went to Boston, studied the 
law a while, sketching the profile of Nancy White 
on the margins of his big sheep-bound books, and 
was admitted to the bar in 1766. He soon found 
that his native town had grown too small for him ; 
there was little hope in lawyer-ridden Boston in 
competition with such men as Otis, Quincy, Sewall, 
and Adams; the shire town of Bristol County 
seemed the logical starting-point for a career, and 

[ 151] 



Two Men of Taunton 



near Taunton Court-House he hung his shingle. 
It was not long before he was engaged in an im- 
portant case dealing with the laws of contract — 
a contract between two parties inclined to matri- 
mony. 



Chapter IX 
A Belle of Taunton 

Hers was the subtlest spell by far 

Of all that set young hearts romancing. 

Praed. 

IN an account book of Colonel White an entry, 
in the summer of 1756, reads: "Loaned four 
dollars to Dan'l Leonard on account." This 
item not only reveals a close intimacy of young 
Daniel with Colonel White's family, but his bor- 
rowing propensity suggests that he was qualify- 
ing as a traditional Harvard freshman. Colonel 
Samuel White held a license for a tavern, or ordi- 
nary, as these houses of entertainment were called 
in the provincial period. Soon after graduating 
from Harvard, in 173 1, White, a student of law, 
was appointed deputy-sheriff and came to Taun- 
ton to marry Prudence, daughter of Samuel Wil- 
liams, grandson of Richard Williams, whom an- 
tiquaries have styled the "Father of Taunton." 
There were various lawyers who did business in- 
cidentally, as justices; but White was the first 
out-and-out lawyer in Taunton to dislodge the 
idea that the law was an unrighteous profession. 
He was made King's Attorney; his father-in-law 
had been in the legislature eight terms, but he 
was sent eleven sessions; served as Speaker of the 

[153] 



Two Men of Taunton 



Assembly three terms, and in 1765 signed the pro- 
test against the Stamp Act. He was a member of 
the first Continental Convention at New York 
that year, and had the apple then been ripe to fall, 
might have signed a Declaration of Independence. 
During his last years, he was a member of the 
Provincial Council.^ 

Colonel White built his house in the afternoon 
shade of the great oak, still standing on Somerset 
Avenue, at the corner of White Street, named in 
remembrance of him. This venerable oak, by 
careful computation, is three hundred years old, 
and was standing when Somerset Avenue was 
an Indian path from Cohannet to Pokanoket. 
King Philip and his braves may have sat in its 
shelter and gathered its acorns. If it were a 
Sibylline oak with talking leaves, what happy 
tales it could tell of White's three daughters, 
Experience, Anna, and Bathsheba, before the 
pink pleasures of girlhood had paled in the gray 
duties of maternity; of merry morning spinning- 
bees ; gay afternoon tea-parties beneath its boughs ; 
of the Harvard-bred dandies riding up to call; of 

^ The obituary notice of March 20, 1769, in the Boston 
Evening Post speaks of White as a "gentleman well known in 
this government from the many public stations in which he ap- 
peared, and well esteemed for the attention and integrity with 
which he demeaned himself in them. By long experience and 
fidelity in the practice of the law, he had acquired a handsome 
estate and a fair character." 

[ 154 ] 



A Belle of Taunton 



mounting from the horse-block when the young 
ladies were lightly tossed to the pillion behind 
their beaux. ^ John Rowe (of Rowe's wharf) took 
tea at Colonel White's and wrote in his diary that 
the White girls "appeared very neat" — a com- 
pliment which covers a multitude of charms, and 
calls to mind a home with its clean-winged hearth, 
gleaming pewter, sanded floor, and well-scoured 
panes. 

Nancy was a belle educated in a Boston finish- 
ing-school. Her autographs, as witness to powers 
of attorney for her father, appear in Colonel 
White's record book as early as her thirteenth 
year. He took her up to Boston in the big boat- 
shaped sledge when he rode to the winter ses- 
sions. The environment differed from that of a 
girl of to-day; there were no high schools nor 
colleges ; novels and magazines were few; our city 

^ Of these three daughters, Experience was "published" 
in 1759 to George Leonard of Norton; his cousin, Daniel, who 
knew Anna in school-days, married her in 1767; the third daugh- 
ter, Bathsheba, married William BayHes, a classmate of Daniel 
at college, who came down from Uxbridge, where his people 
were iron-workers. Three leading families thus interwoven 
became the dominant circle in Taunton. Of the sisters, the 
eldest, Experience, is buried by the side of her distinguished 
husband, under an elaborate tombstone, at Norton; the young- 
est, Bathsheba, lies on the Richmond hilltop at Dighton, be- 
side her husband, Dr. Baylies; midway between the two in the 
Plain Burying-Ground of Taunton, beside her parents, lies the 
delicate Anna Leonard. 

[ iss] 



Two Men of Taunton 



libraries were as unthought of as telephones, 
automobiles, arc-lights, or airships ; but the wide- 
open book of Nature she learned by heart. She 
knew that tree swallows came in early April; 
that the first Sunday in May, the fire hang-bird 
would be carolling in the elm-tops; that on the 
King's birthday, robin's eggs could be found in 
the mud-lined nests. She knew the plaintive 
notes of the phoebe, the flute-song of the veery, 
and the wood thrush, the crossbill whistling in the 
hemlocks, the topsy-turvy nuthatch, the cooing 
of the wood-dove. She gathered water-lilies and 
mallows in the river creeks; could find the shad- 
bush of spring, the gentian in the fall, checker- 
berries under the snow, holly in the winter swamps, 
and all the campestral flowers of summer. The 
rabbit in the woods, the trout in the brooks, the 
mole in the ground, ferns and sassafras in the for- 
est; moths and honeybees were her friends. She 
could paddle a canoe up the river, harness Dob- 
bin into a chaise; could spin wool and weave it 
for garments ; make crab-apple jellies, blackberry 
cordials, and elderberry wine, with graceful lady- 
hood. Neat-handed, young, and laughing-eyed, 
of course she had admirers. Many gallants, well- 
to-do in the world, were at her feet. Into the 
sampler of her dreams she wove images of the 
young bloods of Boston, the visiting lawyers 
sitting at her father's table on high court days, 

[ 156] 



A Belle of Taunton 



as well as Robert, Daniel, and scions of other 
leading Taunton families — Williams, Crocker, 
Tisdale, Dean, Washburn, Cobb, and Presbrey. 

There are causes of division among the youth 
of every town — family connections, political as- 
pirations, church associations, professional jealous- 
ies, and the girls. The old White oak was a 
rallylng-point for wit and beauty — a rendez- 
vous where diiferences were forgotten. Paine 
writes of drinking tea there with three Leonards, 
Otis, Adams, and others. Nancy swayed her 
lovers with admirable tact, and the gossips mar- 
velled at the number of strings to her bow; but 
she held herself high and did not marry until 
six-and-twenty. 

As herebefore mentioned, Paine was intimate 
in the family. He found In Nancy an appreciat- 
ive listener. In the long winter evenings when the 
earth was wrapped In snowy robes and great logs 
crackled on the wide hearth, lighting up the pol- 
ished floor and shining pewter, Paine would close 
the shutters, put on a large fore log, take a seat 
in the settle by the fireside, and lower a bucket 
into the well of experience; while Nancy in the 
other settle-corner, would listen with admiration 
until the candles on the dresser burned low. He 
told of his frontier life at Crown Point among 
the Indians; of taking dinner with Dr. Franklin 
in Philadelphia; of following sperm whales off 
[IS7] 



Two Men of Taunton 



Greenland amid fantastic Boreal lights; of coast- 
ing down the stone flags of the Azores hills, and 
seeing brown-skinned children diving for coppers 
at St. Mary's; of the marvellous Madonnas by 
Murillo and how the artist met his tragic end in 
the chapel at Cadiz; of the sights of London for 
which he found a text in the scenes on the wall- 
paper or the English crockery. He walked home 
with her from Sunday meeting, quoting Pope, 
Dryden, and Gray's Elegy; told her his views 
on religion; talked of Whiteiield, Mayhew, and 
Catholic masses in Spain. Occasionally he took 
the college flute out of its German case; and let 
us hope Nancy accompanied him on the harpsi- 
chord, tomake the air merry with "Green Sleeves," 
"Cherry Ripe," and other English songs. When 
we read in Paine's journal this item: "Cleaned 
Colonel White's clock," we conjure up a picture 
of this horological performance, in which Nancy 
assists in boiling the inner mechanism. She did 
not need to pull a daisy to pieces to tell whether 
Robert loved her or not, when they started on 
their way to Sunday meeting. 

Pretty soon, we find Paine inviting her to go 
on a jolly outing to Newport. Experience and her 
husband, George Leonard, were to go also — a 
cozy party of four. They would drive down one 
day, remain a day, and return the third. There 
were periodical excursions to Boston or Newport 

[158] 



A Belle of Taunton 



from Taunton, situated midway between the two.^ 
The Rhode Island twin capital was blooming into 
gayety as early as 1729, when Berkeley arrived, 
while Boston was still discussing the Halfway 
Covenant. A company of players, inspired by the 
English officers stationed there, exultant after the 
British victories at Louisburg, Quebec, Ticonder- 
oga, and Havana, were giving plays entitled "The 
Grenadier," "Maid of Oaks," and "The Devil to 
Pay "; the last of which we hope was not the one 
given on this occasion. The party set out for 
Newport in chaises by way of Rehoboth ; but the 
quartette had scarcely driven out of town, when 
up galloped Daniel Leonard, on horseback, de- 
termined to go along with them, his cousin having 
given him a quiet tip. His appearance did not 
especially contribute to Paine's enjoyment. Soon 
after, it came about that it was not the travelled, 
Boston-bred newcomer, Robert, but the wealthy, 
ruddy, country-born Daniel, who bore away the 
prize. 
A town record reads : 

April 2, 1767 

Daniel Leonard of Norton and Anna White of 
Taunton were joined together in marriage in Taun- 
ton. 

* The winter of 1769, Taunton River was frozen so solid that 
sleighs were driven by the young men all the way to Newport 
on the ice. 

[ IS9 ] 



Two Men of Taunton 



Samuel White, Esq., Ephraim Leonard, Esq., 
George Leonard, Jr., Esq., and Seth Williams were 
present. 

By me, 

George Leonard, Justice. 

Anna and Daniel went on a wedding journey 
in a chaise about New England. Paine's journal, 
April 12, 1767, reads "Daniel Leonard and Anna 
White returned." 

There was a year of happiness in Taunton for 
Daniel and his bride; then came the little one, 
named, for the mother, Anna White Leonard. 
But the child had scarcely opened her eyes when 
the mother's lids were closed. The same blue- 
birds and robins were carolling in the oak tree, the 
grass was again green on the river-banks, and the 
hylas peeping in the marshes, on that April day 
when the sorrowing relatives and friends, Paine 
among them, bore her body to the burial-ground 
from the home where a year before they had 
gathered to celebrate her nuptial gladness. The 
marriage gown had become a shroud ; Daniel was 
wedded to a memory. 

Some quiet Sunday afternoon if you go up to 
the Plain Burying-Ground on the old Bay Road, 
you may still decipher, under a cluster of sentinel 
firs, through briers and tangled grass and mosses, 
this admonitory sermon on the broad, flat tomb- 
stone of the gentle Anna : 

1 160 1 



A Belle of Taunton 



Intombed the remains of Mrs. Anna Leonard, 
daughter of the Hon. Samuel White, Esq., Consort 
of Daniel Leonard, Esq., born February 25, 1741, 
died April 4, a.d. 1768. 

As the spotless lily amid ye flowers of ye field, 

Such was ye departed among ye daughters of men. 

There is no flattery here. 

Though all the world calls lovely, good, and great in 

woman 
Once enlivened this now inanimate, yet in 
Death's pavilion no soothing eulogy is heard. 
Each action, sight, and sound bring solemn Admonition. 
"Hark, 't is ye voice of death, 
Go, busy, thoughtless mortal, ere ye boast of 
Heraldry, ye pomp of power and all that 
Beauty, all that wealth ever gave," explore ye 
Variant track of those that creep, and those 
That fly, — trace every path of life, — and 
Mark ye end. All centre in my empire — 
Think thou, who never thought before — 
Let conscience do its office — 
The scene is closing fast. 
AGod, A "God Appears" 
The way is lighted — study wisdom! 



Chapter X 

Aunt 'Eunice and Sally Cobb 

Misses, The tale that I relate 

This lesson seems to carry — 
Choose not alone a proper mate 

But proper time to marry. 

CoWPER. 

PAINE, in his leaning toward scientific re- 
search, discovered early that the greatest 
of all natural forces is the gravitation of 
man towards woman. He has left no heart's 
autobiography in rapturous madrigals to Chloris, 
or sonnets to his mistress' eyebrow, composed 
either before or after marriage; but there are 
smiling entries in his daily journal, and confiden- 
tial secrets in letters to Sister Eunice, which light 
up the old, old truth that creatures are forever 
going in pairs upon this earth. 

"Friendship is Love — without his wings." 
Like the mutual attachment of Charles and Mary 
Lamb, Dorothy and William Wordsworth, the 
Herschels, Schumanns, Renans, was the lifelong 
friendship of Eunice and Robert Paine. She was 
his first love, and their affection was ever wing- 
less. Two years his junior, she looked on the world 
through prison bars of invalidism all her days. 
Along with reciprocal medicinal advice in their 
letters are many sprigs of sentiment. As children, 

[,162] 



Aunt Eunice and Sally Cobb 

they helped each other with the family chores; 
did sums together; puzzled their heads over 
conundrums in Poor Richard's Almanac; coaxed 
pigeons into the house by spreading crumbs along 
the window-sill; slid down the Weymouth Hills; 
and sat side by side in the big box-pew, playing 
Jack and Jill upon their fingers to keep awake. 
When Robert went to college, she visited him once 
a month, bringing a bandbox full of seedcakes, 
currant jelly, and ginger beer, made by her own 
hand. She took home his washing and repaired 
his clothes. An extant sheaf of letters discloses 
several of their insubstantial love-affairs. He 
wrote to her one week, and she replied the next. 
Once he sent her a side-saddle with gaudy trap- 
pings, such as the quality used, and then addressed 
his letters to the "Right Honourable, the Lady 
Eunice, Mistress of the Nag." Again he calls 
her "Duchess of Weymouth," and often "Dear 
Old Maid." She did not resent this last appella- 
tion, and at twenty-five wrote a good-humored 
letter to Robert (then a lawyer at Falmouth), 
asking if that were "a good place for a struggling 
old maid"; to which he replied that if "ye old 
maid be tired of her condition, 't is no place to 
change it" — "nor for a lawyer either," he added. 
When he left home at nineteen to teach school 
in Lunenburg, his arrival there was described to his 
sister with a graphic account of a rural tea-party: 

[ 163] 



Two Men of Taunton 



In ye room were a couple of — (ladies must I call 
them ?) No, good, honest, country girls, one of which 
honestly confest yt that the last time she weighed 
herself, she weighed seven score and a haff (or in 
our dialect half). At first, I was a little straitened 
for conversation, but this girl, while I was musing, 
asked me if I intended to bring my family to Lunen- 
burg. Ha, ha, ha! I told her I did not deal in such 
trash; however, she followed me so hard with her 
dry joaks that I thought two or three times that I 
must have quit ye field. I never was so joaked or 
so confoundedly handled by a woman before, but 
manfully I stood ye ground and joaked again when I 
could restrain laughing. 

I was entertained with a dish of tea by these — 
(you Boston people have spoiled me quite. I had 
e'en said Ladys again) — by those country girls. I 
was little at loss how I should do over ye tea-table, 
but I presently found that he who could mix most 
milk, sugar, and tea, then laugh, and spill most 
milk, sugar, and tea, was ye best man. 

Soon we find this lonesome school-teacher 
writing to his sister that he is in love with some 
one "but doesn't know who." Danger ahead! 
He was in love with the rosy passion, and soon a 
Lancaster belle was plucking at the harp of his 
heart-strings. He confides to Eunice: 

I keep this a profound secret, lest the enemies of 
my peace should sing Te Deum to Venus. However, 

1 164 1 



Aunt Eunice and Sally Cobb 

I hope that I have gotten over the worst of It, and 
expect, now that the long evenings and still nights 
are come to invite to study, to grow more serious 
than ever. 

Again he writes : 

Soft things I am done with, they only plague one; 
they are truly like opiates to a feverish person; if 
they succeed and relax the fibres, they bring a sweet 
and confused repose, but if they fail (and they are 
very precarious), they aggravate the disorder, and 
all ends in perfect distraction. Therefore, I run no 
such venture. 

Presently steeling himself against all feminine 
charms, he closes with this injunction: 

Remember me to no female friend upon earth. 

Rob't. (Lord Shirley.) 

He was careful of his sister's culture, once 
writing to her: 

I hope that you will never affect to be one of those 
polite ladies who talk nonsense and bury it under a 
flood of words, which rush in upon them without 
ideas; as waters through a flood-gate have no fish. 

And then inquires if she "has any spark yet." 
Referring to a college mate who visited him, he 
wrote : 

I believe I must send him to court you; his infinite 
good humor will suit you to a notch. You love just 

[ 165 1 



Two Men of Taunton 



such a man as I do a woman — an easy good-humored 
nothing. 

With fraternal frankness, he told his afflictions. 
That youth has its troubles as well as age, this 
lamentation will testify : 

Dear Eunice: 

I hear fine tidings of your dancing, frolicking, and 
nobody knows what, and I am sorry I have such 
pressing occasion to transfer to you some sorrowful 
tidings which will doubtless suppress your spirits 
and bring a gloom upon your mind. It is your well- 
approved maxim that troubles lose their force by 
communicating, and then 't is the part of friendship 
to share in affliction as well as in prosperity. Afflic- 
tions always affect us more or less according to our 
circumstances when we hear them, and I can easily 
conceive how great must be the shock to you who 
are regaling and wantoning at connubial festivals, 
to be informed that your brother has not got a pair of 
drawers fit to wear. Ha, ha! ha! 

Your, you know what, 

R. T. Paine. 

Eunice had her own heart-flutters. Richard 
Cranch, a lifelong friend of Robert, who had 
come to America as a child and settled at Wey- 
mouth, was a suitor for her hand, but his blood 
was not blue enough nor his purse full enough for 
family alliance with the Paines. 
[ i66] 



Aunt Eunice and Sally Cobb 

Thomas Paine wrote to Richard Cranch, May 
1,1753: 

As to my daughter, the great affair of matching 
her, I (perplexed) must leave to her own inclinations, 
hoping they will be prudently directed. She is now 
the greatest care of my life, as her sister is settled and 
brother in good circumstances, and the necessary 
supplys to settle her in the world are at present per- 
plexed. But they will be considerable, if I can get 
over the incumbrances of the law, in which I am 
now involved, and how long they will last I can't see. 
To secure her in this, is now the whole cause of my 
abiding the present fatigue, and I can't think it 
prudent for her to engage herself in marriage, while I 
am in these circumstances. 

So Richard is dismissed; but having his heart 
set on a minister's daughter, he transferred his 
affections to Betsy Smith, and became brother- 
in-law to Abigail Adams. 

Next comes a long-distance wooing. February 
2, 1756, Thomas Paine wrote to his daughter from 
Halifax : 

I have to inform you that Mr. Eben'r Prout, whom 
you formerly knew, is now in a very good business 
here, and has made a proposal to me, that if I sent for 
you to come down here, and it would not be dis- 
agreeable to you, he should be glad to make you his 
spouse; and upon these conditions I should incline 
you would come; otherwise would not on any ac- 

[ 167] 



Two Men of Taunton 



count. I leave you wholly to your own liberty in 
respect to the above. 

Eunice, in excitement, instinctively and imme- 
diately wrote to Brother Bob — laying bare the 
emotion within her bosom. He replied in an ex- 
tended letter dissuading her from the proposed 
step, by reminding her of her delicate health, 
picturing the care of children, with the father at 
sea and "no knowing when he will return," ques- 
tioning whether a sea-captain could satisfy the 
mind of a minister's daughter, dwelling on the 
possibility of a marriage beneath her station, 
and closing at length: "But if you can find a 
friend nearer than a brother, may Heaven bless 
the alliance." She pondered the question deeply 
and finally accepted — her brother's counsel, 
sending this pointed reply to Ebenezer, who 
would not meet his ladylove even halfway. 

Boston, March 8, 1756. 
Sir: 

I rec'd inclos'd in my Father's last a very unex- 
pected epistle, which I suppose I must make an an- 
swer to, seeing I shan't make my appearance, as was 
desired. I am surprised you should venture so far 
in an affair of so great importance, when you are so 
unacquainted with the bargain, for surely could you 
know what you are delivered from by my refusal, 
you'd bless yourself; and take more care for the fu- 
ture how you run such a hazard. My being so entire 

[ 168] 



Aunt Eunice and Sally Cobb 

a stranger I should think as sufficient objection, but 
my ill state of health has for many months obliged 
me to depend chiefly on the care of my doctor and 
nurse, and tho' at this present I am something bet- 
ter, yet far from being able to take any care or do 
any business; this declaration I suppose will suffice, 
instead of a more formal refusal. I heartily wish you 
all manner of prosperity, and especially that you may 
be more happy in your next attempt of this kind. 
The simplicity of this letter will show my sincerity 
and how heartily I wish your welfare. I will now take 
leave to subscribe myself 

Your humble servant, 

Eunice Paine. 

Thus Eunice accepts a patient acquiescence in 
the conjugal joys of others, her maidenly resigna- 
tion mingled with dreams of what might have 
been. In single blessedness she hung upon her 
brother's left arm for life. She became "Aunt 
Eunice " to the family, the ever-reliable stay to care 
for the children, to mend their worn and torn gar- 
ments, teach them letters and manners (occasion- 
ally removing a slipper to emphasize her corrective 
counsel), read Watts's Moral Songs ^ at bedtime 
to enliven their dreams ; to question them on Sun- 
day about the stories of the Old Testament; in 

^ For instance: 

Why should I love my sports so well. 

So constant at my play, 
And lose the thought of Heaven and Hell 
And then forget to pray? 

I 169 1 



Two Men of Taunton 



short, to supply in Paine's homes in Taunton and 
Boston the help, sympathy, and advice of what 
the French call the "Httle mother." When the 
Revolutionary embargo was laid on oolong and 
hyson, she cheerfully brewed catnip in the after- 
noon tea-pot. When not at her brother's, she 
stayed with her sister, Abigail Greenleaf, or at the 
house of General Joseph Palmer in Germantown, 
where her days were ended in 1804. 

Abigail Paine, four years older than Robert, 
was not so intimate a companion as Eunice, act- 
ing more in the capacity of a guardian angel. ^ 
When Robert was a senior sophister at Harvard, 
Abigail considered his judgment mature enough 
to advise her in her most delicate affairs. She 
writes to him, March 4, 1749: 

Dear Brother: 

As I would look upon you as a friend as well as a 
brother I will take this time to inform you of an 

* In a letter to Bob at college she gives a glimpse into their 
domestic affairs: 

I have a merry piece of news to write you of a strange accident which 
happened to us. Last Thursday night, father took uncommon care to 
charge Freeman to shut the house, and he said that he had done it, 
which made us all neglect to look at the fore-door and so went to bed 
with it open; sometime before we arose, somebody came in, opened all 
the inner doors, and went into the pantry and took a bottle full of 
rum out of the case, and part of a loin of roast veal out of a dish, and 
left a spoon and porringer and three teaspoons on the shelf in open 
view; from whence they advanced into the kitchen and took a loaf of 
brown bread and the sugar-box, and three pocket handkerchiefs out 
of a basket of clothes; and so departed without any further mischief, 
which I look upon to be very honest in a thief; it has caused abundance 
of laughter amongst us. 

[ 170 ] 



Aunt Eunice and Sally Cobb 

affair of my own, that I make no doubt will surprise 
you as it had me. Father has at length approved of 
Mr. Greenleaf's request to visit me, and has given 
his consent and has taken some pains in a very ten- 
der manner to persuade me to comply with 's 

request. Were it not for this and the reason he urges, 
I should have no thought but to refuse without 
consideration. But his urging It In any degree Is so 
strange, I know not what to say. Many of his rea- 
sons are too tedious to name, but one, a considera- 
tion of my age, and his circumstances not being so 
promising as some years past, by reason of many 
losses and disappointments, and his Infirmities of 
body and age come on; which makes him desirous to 
have me settled, and he thinks this Is a good pro- 
spect for a living; his only objection, what we all 
know, the family. Pray let me know your thoughts 
upon this by bearer, for on Monday night I shall see 
him again; if you think 't is not, I will dismiss the 
point. 

As the point was not "dismissed," shall we con- 
clude that Robert approved, or otherwise? He 
attended the wedding in October. 

Though keen for feminine charms, Robert was 
a tardy benedict. We know that many blossoms 
of his heart dropped their petals without fruiting. 
His journal and letters arouse conjecture by re- 
ferences to Betsy Watson, Elizabeth McKinstry, 
Anna White, Sally LeBaron, Hannah Quincy, not 
to mention the fair deer-stalker of the Carolinas 

[ 171 1 



Two Men of Taunton 



or the belles of Lancaster. Such an entry in his 
journal as "Rode to Plymouth with Sally Le- 
Baron" calls up the picture of a "one-hoss shay" 
bouncing over long sandy roads while the occu- 
pants cozily discuss intimate affairs. "May 9, 
1763. This evening began to visit Miss Betsy 
Watson at Plymouth" suggests the premeditated 
siege of that lady's heart. His legal aifairs fre- 
quently took him to Plymouth where he was often 
a guest of Colonel George Watson. Paine, now 
in his thirties, replies to the question, "What do 
you think of the Writs of Assistance.?" — "I 
think of taking out writs of assistance for myself." 
For some reason his suit was quashed by these 
two daughters of the Pilgrims, who appear to have 
married respectively admirers by the nameof Clark 
and Barnes. 

Why did he not marry until in his fortieth year? 
Was it lack of money.'' A well-dowered lady was 
then an essential consideration. Was it infirm 
health ? Like Hancock, another matrimonial pro- 
crastinator, he was always ailing. Was it his per- 
sonal appearance? When we add to his facial 
portrait a lank figure, thin neck, and spindling legs, 
the result is no rival to Hyperion. Was it his 
manners ? Adams says, " By his boldness in Com- 
pany, he makes a great many enemies ; his aim is 
to be admired, not to be loved; this impudent be- 
haviour may set the millions agape at him, but will 
[ 172 ] 



Aunt Eunice and Sally Cobb 

make all men of sense despise him." Did he have 
too many flames? Was family pride too exacting 
in its demands ? 

One day in the autumn of 1768 there was a gay 
spinning-bee near Taunton Green, described thus 
in the Boston "Gazette": 

Twice ten young blooming virgins trod the Green 
With all their native virtues of sixteen. 
Beauty when joined to such superior charms 
Might draw the desert hermit to their arms. 

Whether this quatrain was from the pen of Leonard 
(married the year before) and the "desert hermit" 
a sly dig at his unmarried rival, or whether Paine, 
who was a correspondent of Boston newspapers, 
was the rhymester, who shall say? When the new 
lawyer took up his residence in Taunton, — well- 
born, witty, well-educated, — he held passports 
to the best society, and cultivated those leading 
families in which were marriageable maidens. 
His first Thanksgiving dinner in Taunton was 
eaten at Thomas Cobb's tavern in 1760. Captain 
Cobb was a religious man and presumably nodded 
to his guest to ask the blessing, since the young 
lawyer could not have wholly forgotten his min- 
isterial experiences. Who doubts that Sally Cobb, 
then apple-cheeked, saucy, and sixteen, waited 
on the table, passing drum-sticks, dumpling, 
celery, and syllabub ? and that here was the first 
stitch by Cupid, the sly, old tailor, in basting 
I 173 ] 



Two Men of Taunton 



these two hearts together? Yet ten years passed 
before the wedding-knot was tied. 

After Sally, amorous and comely at two-and- 
twenty, removed to Attleboro, her ripe charms 
lingered in Paine's eyes. By the summer of 1766 
affairs took a serious turn. Data of progress are 
found in Paine's journal : 

November, 1760. Spent Thanksgiving at Cobb's 
house. 

October, 1762. Mrs. Lydia Cobb died, and Miss 
Sally took charge of things. 

July, 1766. Began to visit Sally Cobb. 

February 28, 1770. This day I was published to 
marry Sally Cobb. 

March 15, 1770. This evening I was married to 
Miss Sally Cobb by the Rev. Mr. Weld. 

Sally was born May 15, 1744, of sturdy stock 
rooted deep in the soil of Taunton. Henry Cobb, 
the emigrant, was a ruling elder of Barnstable. 
His grandson came to Taunton about 1690 and 
settled at Oakland Village, as Cobb Swamp there 
would indicate. Ensign Morgan Cobb made the 
first map of Taunton in 1728. Captain Richard 
Cobb was killed at an Oakland muster in 1772, 
the accident being thus curiously recorded by 
General Godfrey: 

November 7, 1772. Capt. Richard Cobb died by 
his Right legg being shot of by the splitting of a short 

[ 174] 



Aunt Eunice and Sally Cobb 

Barell of a Gun at Left Wm. Thayers on the 4th day 
of sd November, being a Training day and cut of 
above his knee sd 7th day Died. 

Thomas Cobb (born 1705) was first sea-captain, 
then tavern-keeper, then iron-maker with James 
Leonard, whose daughter Lydia he married. 
Lydia Leonard was a woman of sound character 
and of such worth that the Taunton society of 
the Daughters of the American Revolution honor 
her memory in taking her name for their chapter. 
At his marriage, Captain Cobb became an iron- 
worker, because of his wife's portion in the works 
at Chartley and Attleboro.^ In the latter town 
he purchased for a home a large octagonal 
house (built by a rich old bachelor and known as 
the "Chapel"), with stone flags on the lower 
floor, and triangular rooms radiating from a cen- 
tral hall. The family lived upstairs, the slaves 
below.2 November 5, 1761, Rev. Josiah Crocker, 
the minister of Taunton, whose son was a Har- 
vard classmate of Daniel Leonard, was married, 
with great display, at the " Chapel," to the daugh- 
ter, Hannah Cobb, as his second wife. The two 
sons, Thomas and Jonathan Cobb, were iron 
manufacturers. 

^ Daniel Leonard was a third cousin of Sally Cobb, and as 
children they might play together at Chartley. 

^ Thomas Cobb gave his negro, Cuff, his freedom May 7, 
1779- 

[ 175] 



Two Men of Taunton 



The best known member of this family was 
David, born in 1748, who at seventeen married 
Eleanor B radish, and became the father of eleven 
children.^ A billet found in an old Taunton 
ledger, gives this portrait of the wife : 

Eleanor Cobb is a very amiable young lady; she 
not only possesses an outward dignity which instan- 
taneously and warmly prepossesses all in her favor, 
— but what is infinitely greater, — she has a mind 
equivalent to each outward charm, grace in all her 
steps; heaven in her eyes; and in every gesture dig- 
nity and love. 2 

David was a doctor, entered the army in the 
Revolution, and became lieutenant-colonel. After 
the war he was made judge of the Common 
Pleas, as a reward for his military service. He was 
of strapping stature, and was equipped with a 
robust vocabulary. He had led a force of militia 
at Quaker Hill in Rhode Island (in 1 777) , and stands 
out as the defender of law and order, October 5, 
1786, in Valentine's mob-attack at Taunton dur- 
ing Shays's Rebellion. We may fancy the enraged 
veteran striding into his house roaring, "Mother, 
bring out my old regimentals. Damme, I'll sit 
as a judge or die as a general." But he did 

^ Among his descendants were the late Mayor Cobb of Boston 
and former Governor Curtis Guild. 

* Paine's diary reads: "April 1767: I scolded at Cobb's wife 
before him." 

1 176] 



Aunt Eunice and Sally Cobb 

neither.^ When the judge reappeared in mili- 
tary majesty, epauletted coat and sword in 
hand, the rebel tatterdemalions dispersed with- 
out bloodshed and the court was discreetly ad- 
journed. David used sulphurous language, swear- 
ing not only on occasions of high temper, but in 
peaceful conversation and in letters; in later years 
the minister used to call upon him to swear by 
proxy. Coming out in the morning and no- 
ticing that the vanes on the court-house and the 
meeting-house did not agree, he observed to his 
brother-in-law, "The Law and Gospel seldom 
point the same way." He was with Washington 
at the surrender of Cornwallis and later visited 
Mount Vernon.2 

At the age of eighteen, Sally Cobb became mis- 
tress of household aifairs in her father's tavern 
on the site of the Taunton post-office. She was 
a ready hand to rake hay, feed chickens, try tal- 
low, mould bayberry candles, or mix a noggin of 
punch. She was not one who might yearn to be 
"married to a poem and given away by a novel." 
Girls were educated on short rations — feminine 
learning may have been considered contrary to 
New Testament teachings. But the warmth of 

* Francis Baylies may have put these words into his mouth 
forty years later. 

* At West Point, when weighed along with fellow-officers, 
Cobb's weight was 182 pounds, while Washington weighed 
209. 

[ 177 ] 



Two Men of Taunton 



her nature succeeded in melting Paine's celibacy. 
Banns were published in Attleboro February 28, 
1770; on March 15, a few days after Leonard's 
second marriage, Paine put on his wedding-coat 
and drove up through the odorous spring woods 
from Taunton, to be married that evening. 
There was no ostentation about this wedding at 
the "Chapel" when Sally, buxom and blushing, 
was united with the worldly-wise Robert, some 
thirteen years her senior. Two months later, May 
14, the union was blessed with a bouncing boy.^ 
With his wife came a dowry, and soon Paine 
purchased land on the northeast side of the Green. 
October 14, 1771, there was a house-raising, with 
a cask of cider and much Jamaica rum; ninety- 
eight days later the plaster was thought dry 
enough for the family to enter but the infare oc- 
curred in a driving snowstorm. Sally could now 
put on her calash and run across to Caldwell's store 
for a bar of soap or a string of herring; and over to 
her older sister's to get advice in domestic trials, 
while her brother's stentorian voice could call 
across the Green to consult her husband on poli- 
tics or business. In this house four of Sally's 
children were born, and here she lived till the 
removal to Boston.^ 

1 The great author of the Seven Ages himself was hardly an 
idealist in his own Age of the Lover. 

2 After the success of the French Revolution, the Americans 

[ 178 1 



Aunt Eunice and Sally Cobb 

Paine's wife, though unable to keep step with 
her husband's advanced tastes and thoughts, 
admired him for his reserved manners and his 
official dignities. Her pride in his distinction is 
manifest in a letter in which she mentions that 
Norton had chosen "a market woman's husband" 
as representative in the General Court, adding, "A 
sweet figure they cut." John and Abigail Adams 
during their separation for a third of their mar- 
ried life (which Abigail said was the secret of 
their conjugal happiness), kept up a snowstorm of 
letters, but letters from Paine to his wife during 
his two years in Congress were few. Writing to 
Dr. Cobb from Philadelphia, he says, "Let my 
wife read this letter; I have n't time to write 
her." 

Two of the Massachusetts delegates took their 
wives with them; the others lived as bachelors 
and were much sought after for evening func- 
tions, which they found an agreeable change 
after the worries of the day. 

The Old Colony delegate left his wife at home 
with a newly born child, when he made his third 
trip to Philadelphia in September, 1775. The win- 
ter came — no husband; the spring came — still 

began to show their sympathy by adopting the French name 
"hotel" for taverns. Paine's Taunton house was converted 
into the Washington Hotel, and about the same time Leonard's 
mansion became a coffee-house. 

[ 179 ] 



Two Men of Taunton 



he tarried; summer came — "I'll be home soon," 
he wrote; "tell Robert I have a toy dog for him; " 
autumn came — "I expect we shall both walk 
with calns before I see you," wrote the wife. At 
length, Sally hinted that there were pretty wo- 
men in Philadelphia, inquired if he liked their 
looks, and presently wrote that she dreamed of 
seeing his new wife in the City of Brotherly Love, 
and awoke in a great fright. And the dream was 
so far true — that a famous young lady, receiv- 
ing the attentions of her fifty gallants, was mak- 
ing her debut in a gown of red, white, and blue, 
— her name was Columbia. 

Paine was absent from September, 1775, to 
January, 1777. In this period, when his mind 
was engrossed with laying the foundations of a 
new empire, a few letters from his wife shed 
light upon the intimacies of home affairs. Had 
Sally not shown a humorous turn, these clip- 
pings might suggest the wail of an unappreciated 
spouse. 

February 11, 1776: 

I expected you would have inquired after your 
children's welfare before this time, but I believe you 
have forgotten them as well as me, but I hope that 
when you have your second wife you will not forget 
her. 

I have heard that you are in great spirits and 
don't want to come home. As the Irishman said I 
[ 180] 



Aunt Eunice and Sally Cobb 

was afraid you would come home dead. I remain 
your affectionate wife though neglected. 

May 12, 1776: 

I have n't rec'd a letter since March, for what rea- 
son I don't know, without it is as Jos. Crocker says 
that you have got a new w — f, be that as it may be I 
should be glad to hear from you and when you desire 
to meet the old one. . . A court on March 17, 1776, 
was broken up by a crew with sticks and clubs and 
compelled to sit at Mr. Crocker's. . . We have had 
one of our dreadful trainings to-day and my head is 
almost drummed off. 

October, 1776: 

I am not willing to think that you are unmindful 
of home, though you have a new wife. I saw her the 
other night, she was very sassy and began to claim 
her right and I turned her out of doors. In doing so I 
woke in a great fright. 

Thirteen years his junior, the young wife was 
naturally a bit jealous of her husband. When the 
family removed to Boston, Sally's life was one of 
complete domestic employment, caring for her 
brood of children, and later for her grandchildren, 
who lived with her. She was busy keeping her 
house in order, churning butter, attending to the 
flower garden, entertaining her guests ; and every 
spring sent Jedidiah, the hired man, with her 

[ 181] 



Two Men of Taunton 



carpets over to Boston Common for the annual 
beating. She had a tender feeling for the wild 
poet-son, Robert Treat, Jr., when his father's 
face was turned against him. She followed, one 
after another, all four of her boys to the grave, 
and died, a widow, in June, 1816. 



Chapter XI 
Leonard's Second Marriage 

He who marries a second time does n't deserve the loss of the first 
wife. — Old Proverb, 

DANIEL LEONARD prided himself on 
being the glass of fashion and the mould 
of form, but discerning women saw in 
him a nobility not wholly imparted by the barber, 
the tailor, or a study of Chesterfield. Polite and 
engaging, he was a beau any belle might be happy 
to catch. The dazzling, dashing, gaming quali- 
ties of Daniel were satirized in a play by Mercy 
Warren, sister of the fiery James Otis, and wife 
of James Warren, Speaker of the Revolutionary 
Assembly.^ "The Group " is now read, not be- 
cause of its literary merit, but for its whimsical 
references to the men and politics of that day. 
Published in 1775, it ridicules the most notable 
Tories, introducing them under strange appella- 

^ Madam Warren shared with Abigail and Hannah Adams 
the feminine literary glory of the Revolutionary period in 
Massachusetts. Her Plymouth home was the resort of visiting 
lawyers; at her table, Leonard and Paine were guests while at- 
tending the County Court; intermittently she had intimate 
friendship with John Adams, who wrote of her satirical play, 
"The Group": 

There was but one person in the world, male or female, who could at 
that time, in my opinion, have written it; and that person was Madam 
Mercy Warren. 

[183] 



Two Men of Taunton 



tions, like "Hateall," " Scriblerus," "Hum-Hum- 
bug," "Hazelrod," and so on. In a copy at the 
Boston Athenaeum, the persons caricatured are 
identified : "Hazelrod" is Peter Oliver; "Meagre," 
Foster Hutchinson; "Hateall," Timothy Ruggles; 
" Scriblerus," Jonathan Sewall ; "Beau Trumps," 
Daniel Leonard. 

Here Leonard, whose foibles were well known, 
was impaled under that clever sobriquet, a curious 
combination of French and English words. The 
aesthetic taste of Taunton centred in him. He had 
an eye for a deftly curled wig; his elegant waist- 
coats and elaborate manners contributed topics for 
thepersiflageof ladies' tea-tables; and his scrupu- 
lous toilet as a "macaroni" is thus described by 
John Adams : "Velvet coat, neckerchiefs and wrist 
falls of exquisite Irish lace, satin trousers, and 
silver embroidered on his cocked hat." Natty, 
spruce, personable, he answered the requirements 
of an English squire, "well fed, well read, well 
bred." Paine was characterized by moral earnest- 
ness ; Leonard by a Bourbon culture. Traits of the 
Puritan appear in Paine; in Leonard, those of the 
Cavalier. Matthew Arnold would have classified 
them as Hebraic and Hellenic. If you were to have 
a jovial midnight supper, a rollicking fox hunt, a 
campaign speech at election, a dress-parade in 
military trappings, Leonard was your man; but 
if you wished for an impromptu blessing at a 

[ 184] 



Leonard's Second Marriage 

dinner-party, or a discussion of theology over an 
afternoon teacup, or were looking for a pall- 
bearer, or moderator of a town meeting, you would 
turn to Paine. Jonathan Sewall said that Adams 
"would never shine at court as an ambassador, 
as he could not dance, drink, game, dress, and 
flirt with the ladies." This might apply to Paine, 
but never to Leonard. For him woman had a 
wondrous fascination, and Trumbull, in his "Mc- 
Fingal " refers to him thus : 

Scribbled every moment he could spare 
From cards, the barber, and the fair. 

So much for Leonard as a "beau." The other 
word of Leonard's sobriquet is explained in " every 
moment he could spare from cards." He was an 
inveterate card-player; inordinately fond of the 
company of the gorgeous kings and queens in the 
pack. When a youth inquired of the venerable 
Paine about Leonard, the Judge mused a moment 
and replied, "Yes, Daniel was a clever fellow — 
but too fond of cards ! too fond of cards ! He never 
was at ease in company till cards were intro- 
duced." There is no evidence that Paine knew 
"jack" from "joker." It never entered into his 
plan of life to fritter away the night over seven- 
up, quadrille, whist, or piquet.^ He had the Pu- 

* He did not agree with Talleyrand, who wrote to one who 
could find no joy in cards, "Quelle triste vieillesse vous vous 
preparez." 

{ I8S] 



Two Men of Taunton 



ritan abhorrence of the pack as "tickets for Hell," 
and took the same view of card-playing as John 
Adams, who wrote: 

It gratifies none of the senses, neither sight, hear- 
ing, taste, smelling, nor feeling. It can entertain the 
mind only by hushing its clamors. Cards, back- 
gammon, etc., are genteel antidotes to reflection, to 
thinking — that cruel tyrant within us. 

So while Leonard, Dr. Cobb, and their visiting 
friends lighted their long-stemmed pipes, set 
their mugs of toddy in the ashes on the hearth, 
and shuffled the greasy deck till midnight, laying 
down a few shillings to spice the game, Paine took 
the key from his pocket, wound his big watch, 
and with a night-cap joke, put a pinch of pep- 
per in his mulled cider and went early to bed.* 
Leonard enjoyed the zest of chance, and in this 
day might have developed the "poker face." 
We need not suppose that he learned all his card 
games in Norton. Those fines at Harvard might 
perhaps be accounted for by a cozy game with 

^ As he arose betimes to visit Woodward's Springs, for a 
morning draught of the iron-water, he may have passed Leonard 
on the stairs on his way to bed, as Clay and John Quincy Adams 
are reported to have met while the Treaty of Ghent was making. 
Adams, the early riser, greeted his colleague with "Good morn- 
ing," to which Clay, after spending the night at the gaming- 
table, retorted "Good night." 

[ 186] 



Leonard's Second Marriage 

college chums in a back room of the " Bunch of 
Grapes" Tavern. When following the circuit 
plenty of fellow-barristers would join his evening 
game; when penned up in Boston during the siege, 
he could take a hand with the ever-ready British 
officers, for as Solicitor to the Customs he could 
meet them on an equality.^ Later, picture him 
with his fellow-exiles in the Adelphi Coffee-House 
or at Almack's in London, whiling away days 
of anxiety by piquet, when winnings and losses 
were of necessity small, because remittances from 
America were meagre. At Bermuda, we fancy the 
courtly old judge enjoying his otium cum dignitate, 
his white-stockinged legs stretched under a ma- 
hogany table, as he joins the Governor, or Tom 
Moore for an afternoon game, with mint julep 
handy on the buifet. Through life he played a 
gentleman's game, but the cards went against 
him. 

So Leonard stands as "Beau Trumps," in the 
play. His first cue follows: 

^ At this time, a game called "Boston" originated among these 
British soldiers. It is now probably forgotten in the North, 
but if you should chance to be walking up Canal Street in New 
Orleans with eyes bent to the ground, you might observe among 
the signs embedded in the banquette the words "Boston Club." 
Imagination would naturally conjecture "A Society from Mass- 
achusetts"; but should you enter, you would find the members 
playing this old Revolutionary game of cards. 

[187] 



Two Men of Taunton 



THE GROUP — ACT II 

A large dining room, the table furnished with howls, bottles, 
glasses and cards. The Group appears sitting around it in 
restless attitudes In one corner of the room is discovered 
a small cabinet of books for the use of the studious and 
contemplative, containing Hobbes's "Leviathan," Sib- 
thorps s "Sermons,'' Hutchinson's "History," the "Fable 
of the Bees," Philalethes on "Philanthropy," with an 
appendix by Massachusettensis, "Hoyle on Whist," 
"Lives of the Stewarts," "Statutes" of Henry the Eighth 
and William the Conqueror, Wedderburn's " Speeches and 
Acts of Parliament," for 1774. 

Scene I 

Hateall, Hazelrod, Monsieur, Beau Trumps, Simple, 
Humbug, Sir Sparrow, etc. Scriblerus and Mon- 
sieur are engaged in dialogue when Beau Trumps enters 
with Grandisonian air and speaks : 
That's right, Monsieur, 
There's nought on earth that has such tempting charm 
As rank and show and pomp and glittering dress. 
Save the dear counters at beloved quadrille, 
Viner unsoiled and Littleton may sleep. 
And Coke lie mouldering on the dusty shelf, 
If I by shuffling draw some lucky card 
That wins the livers some lucrative place. 

The Leonards were an uxorious clan. Ephraim 
was so fond of his first wife that he repeated his 
"venture" again and again. To remain single 
after experiencing so many stepmothers, especially 
when ample means of display would come with a 

[ 188] 



Leonard's Second Marriage 

wife, was out of the question with Daniel. So 
in tribute to the lovely Anna, he soon sought a 
new wife, — as much like the first as possible. 
In 1770, his star was in the ascendant. He was 
now King's Attorney, member of the General 
Court, and his law practice was beginning to be 
lucrative. Since the death of his wife, he was, like 
Paine, living at McWhorter's Tavern, while Ann 
Barney, at Grandmother White's, was caring for 
his motherless babe. The year that Daniel first 
went up to the General Court, Andrew Cazneau, 
a fellow-barrister and member of the same club, 
had married a daughter of John Hammock, a 
prosperous Boston merchant.^ The gay Daniel, 
we assume, was present at the wedding, and found 
one of the bridesmaids attractive; having an eye 
to fashion and understanding the uses to which 
inherited wealth could be put. 

John Hammock lived at the aristocratic North 
End, and was the father of several daughters. ^ 

* In the address to Governor Hutchinson upon his departure 
for England, the signatures of Leonard and Cazneau stand side 
by side, suggesting a close acquaintance. They were both pro- 
scribed by the Legislature in 1778, and lived together many 
years in Bermuda. The Cazneau sisters were belles, known in 
Providence as well as in Boston; and interesting letters relating 
to their entanglements are preserved in Rhode Island historical 
collections. The family was Huguenot. 

2 One, born in April, was named Easter Hammock. Whether 
she was born on Easter Day, or whether this name was another 
form of Esther, the reader may decide. 

[ 189 1 



Two Men of Taunton 



Those North End ladies and gentlemen read Ad- 
dison's " Spectator," "Tristram Shandy," "Tom 
Jones," "Sir Charles Grandison," the Eng- 
lish prayer book, and repeated hon-mots of Sam 
Johnson; some of them had manors of a 
thousand acres in the country, cultivated by 
slaves from Africa (the Apthorps, Amorys, Bor- 
lands, Hutchinsons, Olivers, Princes, Wendells, 
Winslows). It was their ambition to ape the cus- 
toms and ceremonies of England, as the habitans 
in Quebec attempted a miniature of the court at 
Versailles. Of an afternoon the Bostonians pa- 
raded on the Mall in brocaded vests, broad ruffled 
sleeves. Delta-shaped hats, and powdered wigs, 
swinging ivory-headed canes to touch up vagrant 
dogs, sheep, or pigs, and warn idle negro urchins. 
An English traveller said of them, "The ladies 
here visit, drink tea, and indulge every little bit 
of gentility to the height of the fashion, and neg- 
lect the affairs of their families with as good a 
grace as the finest families of London." 

In less that the customary two years from the 
death of his first wife, Daniel goes up from Taun- 
ton to marry a daughter of Boston; eleven days 
later, Paine, having coming down from Boston, 
takes to wife a daughter of Taunton — a fair 
exchange. Sarah Hammock and Daniel Leonard 
were married March 4, 1770, a day before the 
Boston Massacre, when the town was in fever- 
[ 190 ] 



Leonard's Second Marriage 

ish excitement from the conduct of the King's 
troops, who, a few days previously, had killed a 
boy. 

John Hammock was a vestryman in Christ's 
Church. There let Fancy assemble a fine wed- 
ding party — acting Governor Hutchinson in of- 
ficial splendor, Lieut.-Governor Oliver, Josiah 
Quincy, intimate friends of the groom; a Brit- 
ish officer or two, in flashing red coats with med- 
als and orders; and the North End gentry as 
smartly frocked as credit would allow. Of his 
college-mates, Thomas Brattle, next to whom 
Daniel had sat at the head of Commons; John 
Lowell ; Daniel Bliss of Concord ; William Baylies, 
his brother-in-law; Samuel Deane, a few years 
older, who had come up with him to college from 
Norton, and was now preaching at Portland; 
include also Dr. Joseph Warren (class of 1759) 
and John Trumbull of Yale, who studied law in 
Boston, and Judge William Browne of Salem. 
Of his fellow-members in the Legislature invite 
Major Hawley from Northampton, James War- 
ren of Plymouth, James Otis, living in Boston, 
Timothy Ruggles of Hardwick, and Colonel 
Jerathmeel Bowers of Swanzea.^ Paine must 
drive up from Taunton; and welcome Paul Re- 

' * Colonel Bowers was a boon companion of Leonard. He 
made a fortune in the West-India and slave trade and his son 
became a notorius spendthrift. For lack of other sensational 

[191] 



Two Men of Taunton 



vere, the silversmith, Cazneau, John Adams and 
other lawyers, and various members of the two 
families in their Sunday best. 

But hush! The rector, Mather Byles, Jr., 
enters the sanctuary, shaking the snow from his 
curls; the bride of twenty-four, in hoop skirt, 
lace and brocade, with pearls on her neck and 
in her ears and hair dressed high; the groom of 
thirty, in silver-trimmed blue velvet coat, tie-wig, 
finely plaited linen neckerchief and "pudding." 
Now the Communion; the kneeling at the altar; 
the passing of the ring; the hymn and benedic- 
tion and wedding march, with nuptial strains from 
the newly installed organ. And now the rice and 
slippers ! 

Let the guests from Norton climb the steep 
wooden stairs of the delicate tower (designed from 
drawings by Sir Christopher Wren) to inspect the 
chime of bells and startle the pigeons, just as the 
sexton with his two lanterns startled them on an 
April evening, five years later. On the first of the 
eight bells they might read, " The subscription for 
these bells was begun by John Hammock and 
Robert Temple, Church Wardens, Anno 1743." 
On the seventh bell, " Since generosity has opened 

extravagance, one day, young Bowers announced he would 
eat the most expensive breakfast in Somerset. When the 
neighbors dropped in to watch the banquet, the Colonial Mi- 
das put a hundred-dollar bill between two slices of bread and 
devoured it. 

[ 192 ] 



Leonard's Second Marriage 

our mouths, our tongue shall ring aloud its 
praise." They must also examine the "Vine- 
gar Bible" and the silver service given by 
George IL 

While his first wife's father was scrutinizing 
Leonard's affairs, Daniel felt restrained, for Colo- 
nel White was an accumulator, not a dissipator 
of fortunes. After his second marriage, Leonard 
began to favor a more extravagant style. His 
tastes prompted him to live in a manner becoming 
his title of King's Attorney. He took his Boston 
bride down to Taunton, where he enthroned her 
in a newly-purchased mansion. He was the John 
Hancock of Taunton; his house overlooked Taun- 
ton Green as that of Hancock looked down on 
Boston Common. The natives rubbed their eyes 
at the new pomp, began to put aside familiarity 
and hailed their fellow-townsman as "Mister." 
Madam Leonard frequently accompanied her 
husband when his legislative duties called him 
to Boston. She could not find many of her own 
social set, and may have sniffed a trifle at the 
rural gentry. Paine and Mrs. Leonard became 
congenial friends, though Paine, born on Beacon 
Hill, was then not so aristocratic as a North- 
Ender. 

The substantial mansion of Leonard was on that 
side of Taunton Green where now stands the court- 
house. In the rear was his stable with the coach 
[ 193 1 



Two Men of Taunton 



in which he rode to Boston; paths of box led to 
the wide door; china and plate were on the ma- 
hogany table. Here were entertained, with the 
most lavish display the town could afford, the 
Governor and Supreme Court Judges — Gerry, 
Godfrey, Otis, Mayhew, Bowers, Cobb, and high 
officials from Boston. 

And judges grave and colonels grand, 

Fair dames and stately men, 
The mighty people of the land, 

The " world " of there and then. 

Cards, wine, dancing, and midnight merriment 
made the judicious grieve; the sober-thinking saw 
that Leonard was cultivating the haughty spirit 
which precedes a fall. 

Four years Mrs. Leonard lived in Taunton, 
where three children were born. The unhappy 
circumstances under which her husband was 
driven to Boston, when popular sentiment ostra- 
cized the family, aroused sympathy for the wife 
whose child, born in this harrowing period, devel- 
oped symptoms of idiocy. As soon as advisable, 
the family coach, driven by Spencer Lyne, the 
colored coachman, took Mrs. Leonard and the 
children back to Boston, to a house in Queen 
Street; and not long after. Colonel Leonard's 
private papers were borne away, to be scattered 
none know where. 

[ 194 ] 



Leonard's Second Marriage 

After a year and a half In Boston, Mrs. Leon- 
ard sailed to Halifax, to live among two thousand 
exiles in Nova Scotia. Halifax was then but a 
fisherman's hamlet. There was great difficulty in 
accommodating the 1927 persons, who, in crowded 
ships, sailed thither in March, 1776. Icebergs 
coming down from Labrador caused heavy fogs, 
"the pity of the sea." Most of the houses were 
rickety, admitting bleak winds through mani- 
fold chinks, and scarcely a room had been plas- 
tered.-^ Whole families were crowded together 
closer than aboard ship. Daniel soon went to 
England, but his wife remained, with her half- 
dozen children and servant, for another two 
years, dreading the ocean voyage, and expecting 
every day the war might cease. Tears of home- 
sickness welled up in her eyes as she sat in exile, 
with her little ones, and in the summer of 1778, 
she gathered her brood about her and crossed the 
ocean to join her husband. She lived three years 
in crowded London, near Buckingham Gate, 
educating her children in the schools. Then she 
packed her Lares and Penates for Bermuda, where 
she lived the narrow life of the island for twenty- 
five years, a near neighbor to her sister, Mrs. 
Cazneau. There the silver wedding was ob- 
served. 

^ Some one speaks of the climate as nine months winter and 
three months cold weather. 

1 195] 



Two Men of Taunton 



The Leonards' faithful servant, Ann Barney, 
loyally followed the family in all its peregrina- 
tions. Hers was a life of peculiar gentleness; she 
had taken care of Daniel's first wife, and after 
her death had nursed the motherless child as her 
own. When Daniel married again, his new wife 
welcomed Ann into the household with her foster- 
child, whom the nurse loved with all her unsatis- 
fied maternity. Thus Ann came to be as one of 
the Leonard family, and companioned her new 
mistress through all the changes of fortunes. She 
cared for other little ones as well as for Anna, 
and was always a very present help in time of 
trouble, especially during those trying days at 
Halifax when Mrs. Leonard, in her husband's 
absence, was bravely endeavoring to keep her 
children in health. Ann went to London and 
finally to Bermuda, where it was her happiness 
to see her "child" married to an English officer. 
Besides Ann Barney, Seth Williams, a Harvard 
graduate and kinsman to Leonard's first wife, 
followed the family into exile. The household, 
in 1775, consisted of ten persons, counting in 
the nursery maid. There must have been an 
annual increase of olive-branches round Madam 
Leonard's table, but two died in infancy and were 
buried either on the bleak hillside at Halifax, 
in the throbbing heart of London, or in the 
"quiet" behind St. Peter's at Bermuda. 

[ 196] 



Leonard's Second Marriage 

The death of Madam Leonard in 1806, away 
from her husband and children, on the waste of 
waters, is a pathetic contrast to the brilHant 
promise of her wedding day. She had Hved with 
Daniel thirty-six years, for better, for worse. The 
climate of Bermuda, fatal to consumptives and 
beneficial to nervous diseases, was not good for 
her; she left the island to return to her American 
home by way of Providence, but never reached 
New England. Superstitious sailors put shot in 
her canvas coffin, and as the captain finished the 
marine burial service, gently lowered her body 
into the vast unmarked ocean cemetery. 



NEXT THE JUSTICE 



1 



Chapter XII 
King's Attorney 

The far-off splendors of the throne 
And glimmerings of the crown. 

Anonymous. 

THE decade 1 765-1 775 was a succession of 
surprises to Leonard; its critical changes 
and significant developments brought out 
his true colors. He was admitted to the bar and 
elected to the General Court; was married twice 
and became father of several children; he was 
appointed King's Attorney and Mandamus Coun- 
cillor. Honors were crowning him faster than he 
could carry them gracefully. Presently he was 
driven, at the menace of musket balls, from the 
land of his fathers by angry fellow-townsmen. 

To grasp the spirit of the times during this first 
decade of his practice as an attorney, it may be 
well to refresh the mind upon the events then 
marching double-quick toward the goal of Inde- 
pendence. Almost weekly, Leonard and Paine 
found some new disturbance to discuss with their 
neighbors at the store or the town house. British 
law made it impossible for the Leonards to make 
iron for export. It was a crime to manufacture 
hats or shoes and market them beyond the neigh- 
[ 201 ] 



Two Men of Taunton 



borhood, so rigidly did the Crown's vigilance re- 
strain the commerce of the Colonies. Criminals 
from British jails were sent to America and sold 
as indentured servants for stated periods. The 
import duties, the summons to England for trial 
of all officers under indictment, and the quarter- 
ing of troops in time of peace, strengthened the 
arguments against the ministry and the revolt 
against constituted authority. The struggle with 
France for the American continent had ceased 
in 1763 and the danger of French control was 
ended. Thereafter the colonists gave attention 
to their business, farming, and political troubles. 
By the Stamp Act of 1765, a special stamp was re- 
quired on every document, from a deed to a mar- 
riage certificate. The resentment of the people 
was so universal that this law was repealed the 
next year, only to be replaced in 1767 by an- 
other odious taxation scheme devised by Charles 
Townshend. Taunton families gained wealth by 
evasion of these laws. To smuggle became a pa- 
triot's duty. Sloops anchored at out-of-the-way 
points along the coast, from which carts, under 
cover of night, brought away tea, wine, sugar, 
molasses, and fruit to secret cellars. In 1768, 
Parliament bade the Massachusetts Legislature 
rescind their circular letter addressed to other 
provincial assemblies seeking assistance. Seven- 
. teen members obeyed and were tormented within 

[ 202 ] 



King's Attorney 

an inch of their Hves by sore constituents. Han- 
cock's sloop, Liberty, was seized by Crown officials 
for smuggling. That fall two regiments of British 
soldiers arrived. In 1769, Governor Bernard was 
recalled on petition of the Assembly. Then duties 
were removed on all articles except tea, the obnox- 
ious tax upon which caused a general boycott of 
that staple commodity, the ladies stipulating to 
forego their favorite brew. In 1770 came the Bos- 
ton Massacre and its criminal trials. The first 
Committee of Correspondence was then suggested 
by James Warren, and within a year or two they 
were established in every town. Castle William 
and Boston Harbor were taken from provincial 
control. In 1771, Hutchinson was made governor 
of Massachusetts and Benjamin Franklin was 
appointed agent to present the grievances of this 
province at the court of St. James. In 1772, 
the Assembly protested against the payment of 
provincial officers by the Crown, and a British 
ship, the Gaspee, was burned in Providence 
River. In 1773, Virginia and Massachusetts 
joined hands through their committees ; the letters 
of Hutchinson and Oliver, acquired by Franklin, 
were sent to Boston. In December of this year 
came the famous tea-party on the Dartmouth. 
In 1774, Chief Justice Oliver was impeached, 
Paine and Leonard taking opposite sides. The 
citizens refused to pay for the tea destroyed and 
[ 203 ] 



Two Men of Taunton 



the port of Boston was closed. Hutchinson sailed 
for England and a solemn covenant not to use 
imported goods was signed. Then came the Con- 
tinental Congress and the discomfiture of the 
leading Tories; next year, Lexington and Bunker 
Hill; and the cry for independence was in the air. 

Such issues had divided the Province into 
political parties. The supporters of the admin- 
istration were called Loyalists and Tories; their 
opponents who claimed that its policy was narrow 
and unjust, were Whigs or Patriots.^ The Tories 
of the Revolution were the logical heirs of Andros, 
Randolph, Dudley, and the champions of Stuart 
absolutism. Out of the administration of Gov- 
ernor Shirley arose a new Court Party, success- 
ors to the ancient Cavaliers; this party included 
the Hutchinsons, Olivers, Leonards, Ruggleses, 
Sewalls, Winslows, and their kind. They stood 
for an aristocratic order of society and upheld 
the union of church and state. The Tories called 
themselves the Law and Order party, maintain- 
ing the prerogative of the Crown, and defend- 
ing the supremacy of British law throughout 
the empire. The Whigs claimed that they, too, 
were loyal, because they recognized the execu- 
tive functions of the Crown and the sovereignty 
of Great Britain. As it was not the original 
thought of the Tories to appeal to the iron hand 

^ Insurgents and reactionaries they would be called to-day. 
[ 204 ] 



King's Attorney 

of monarchy, so it was not the early aim of the 
Whigs to separate from England. Time and cir- 
cumstances drove both parties to measures they 
had not originally proposed. To support Parlia- 
ment, the Tory became a defender of arbitrary 
measures, and the Whig, to preserve fundamen- 
tal rights, became the advocate of an American 
Democracy. Much barrel-head oratory was heard 
about ballot-boxes in place of a king, for the se- 
lection of officials. 

Leonard, having served in the office of Colonel 
White and married his daughter, was the logical 
candidate for the position of King's Attorney, 
which he secured in 1769. The young barrister 
of twenty-nine entered upon the position, just 
vacated by his father-in-law, with the enthusiasm 
of a rising lawyer. Paine was better qualified for 
the place; not only was he older, but, being obliged 
to earn his livelihood by the law, he was a closer 
student. If Paine had had the "pull," the office 
would have gone to him and the whole current of 
his life might have been changed. 

In assuming this title of "King's Attorney," 
Leonard began forging the chains which fastened 
him to the English throne. While making pleas in 
the name of the King, and referring so often to 
"His Majesty," he was mechanically becoming 
a Loyalist, as much as if taking command in a 
regiment of British troops. He had sworn to per- 
[ 205 ] 



Two Men of Taunton 



form his duty in opposing lawless acts and pre- 
serving order, and measured swords with the lead- 
ing counsel of the Old Colony in pleas of the Crown. 
He came to know the might of the British Em- 
pire, then mistress of the world, and he was proud 
to honor his King, although he could feel that 
the name "King" was becoming hateful to the 
populace. He saw nothing to gain and all to lose 
in joining the Whigs, whom the lordly Tories con- 
temptuously spoke of as "a mob of blustering, 
bellowing patriots." Though the spirit of patriot- 
ism was often cased in a husk of turbulence and 
lawlessness, the finer sentiment of freedom and 
liberalism was instinctive with the educated ortho- 
dox clergy and many cultured minds. Leonard 
had been rated a Whig until 1772, when he showed 
symptoms of the turncoat. Though suspected as 
a renegade, he gave no specific cause for open 
censure until 1774, upon his vote against the im- 
peachment of Judge Oliver. Then malevolc " <"e 
dogged him, and only previous popularity sa . ,^ 
him from assault. 

Much could be said in extenuation of Leonard's 
course. He was one of the young bloods, popular 
in the clubs of lawyers at Providence and Boston, 
and a frequent guest of the Pilgrim Society in 
Plymouth. It required great force of will to break 
with his many associates. To renounce allegiance 
to the Crown would not only cut off his in- 
[ 206] 







SONS OF LIBERTY PERSECUTING A TORY 



King's Attorney 

come, but bring upon him the contempt of the 
Boston aristocracy, whose friendship he valued 
socially. His vacillating mind was weighing in 
the balance the question whether the present 
movement would be put down as a rebellion or 
justify itself as a revolution. England received a 
million pounds of annual revenue from the colo- 
nies, and could hardly aiford a war, Leonard rea- 
soned ; but he saw that the most high-toned were 
on the side of the administration ; while a vulgar 
rabble constituted the vast majority of the Pa- 
triot forces. The satisfied class, who had wealth 
and social position, the Episcopal clergy, the con- 
servatives, the Crown officials put absolute trust 
in the power and justice of their sovereign. 

The patriots were, of course, eager to humili- 
ate those who leaned toward the King, and feel- 
ing their power grow, as the chasm widened, gave 
the Loyalists choice of persecution or banishment. 
A Tory, they declared, was a man whose head 
was in London while his body was in America, 
and whose neck, therefore, ought to be stretched. 
Tory estates were despoiled and the names of their 
owners published as betrayers of their country; 
men would not associate with them in buying, 
selling, or worshipping; they could scarcely pur- 
chase the necessities of life; millers would not 
grind their corn, laborers would not hire out with 
them; Tory pulpits were nailed up. 
[ 207 ] 



Two Men of Taunton 



Taunton became a centre of fiercest hate of the 
Tories. The Patriots were too much in earnest 
to tolerate pronounced LoyaHsts as neighbors. 
Lines were drawn in famihes, severing brother 
from brother. The Committees of Safety looked 
with longing eyes on estates to be confiscated. 
The minister, judge, colonel of the regiment, 
scholar, and capitalist were threatened with 
indignities — "Insults more to be deprecated 
than death itself," wrote Leonard. The bitterness 
of the Patriots was shown by their fertility of 
invention. To one Tory they would send, as a 
gentle hint, a box containing a halter; another was 
lowered in a well and there imprisoned overnight; 
again, they would cut the hair and tail off a Tory 
horse and paint its body fantastically; sometimes 
they drummed a man out of town, or, setting him 
on a rail, gave him a spectacular ride about the 
streets ; others were burned in effigy or fastened to 
whipping-posts. Their wigs were pulled off; cow- 
bells were hung around their necks; family por- 
traits were set up as targets for sundry missiles.^ 
A King's Attorney was a shining mark for Whig 
attacks. 

Leonard's apostasy was accelerated in the spring 
of 1774. One morning his neighbors were sur- 

^ Tradition says that Mr. Edson of Bridgewater was placed 
inside the carcass of one of his slaughtered oxen, his head 
swathed with entrails, and thus drawn on a cart through his 
native town. 

[ 208 ] 



King's Attorney 

prised to see Governor Hutchinson drive up to 
his door. A long conversation took place under a 
tree which, fifty years later, was still pointed out 
as the "Tory pear tree." The Governor had come 
there to bring his skill to bear on the young attor- 
ney, and bind him to the Tory cause. When Hutch- 
inson returned home, Leonard was safely inocu- 
lated with the loyal virus. Mercy Warren, in her 
satire, thus pictures the scene: 

I trimmed and primped and veered and wav'ring stood, 

But half-resolved to show myself a knave, 

Till the arch-traitor, prowling round for aid. 

Saw my suspense and bade me doubt no more. 

He gently turned, and smiling took my hand. 

And whispering softly in my listening ear. 

Showed me my name among his chosen band, 

And laughed at virtue dignified by fools; 

Cleared all my doubts and bid me persevere 

In spite of the restraints or hourly checks 

Of wounded friendship, and a goaded mind. 

Or all the sacred ties of truth and honor. 

Hutchinson, constantly threatened, asked the 
King's permission to visit England; and sailed June 
I, 1774, to hold his notable interview with George 
III.^ Upon his departure from Boston, the Tory 

^ Hutchinson was soured because the mob sacked his house 
and burned his library, which Governor Hopkins of Rhode 
Island commanded, hoping it might keep him from writing 
any more history. 

[ 209 ] 



Two Men of Taunton 



barristers sent him an elaborate address of good- 
will and esteem.^ 

^ The address is as follows: 

A firm persuasion of your inviolable attachment to the real interest 
of this your native country, and your constant readiness, by every 
service in your power, to promote its true welfare and prosperity, will, 
we flatter ourselves, render it not improper in us, barristers, and attor- 
neys-at-law, in the Province of Massachusetts Bay, to address your 
Excellency, upon your removal from us, with this testimonial of our 
sincere respect and esteem. 

The various important characters of Legislator, Judge, and first 
Magistrate over this Province, in which, by the suffrages of your fellow- 
subjects and the royal favor of the best of Kings, your great abilities, 
adorned with uniform purity of principle, and integrity of conduct, have 
been eminently distinguished, must excite the esteem and demand the 
grateful acknowledgement of every true lover of his country and 
friend to virtue. 

The present perplexed state of our public affairs, we are sensible, 
must render your departure far less disagreeable to you than it is to 
us. We assure you, sir, we feel the loss; but when in the amiable char- 
acter of your successor, we view a fresh instance of the paternal goodness 
of our most gracious sovereign, on the probability that your presence 
at the Court of Great Britain will afford you an opportunity of employing 
your interest more successfully for the relief of the Province, and par- 
ticularly for the town of Boston, under their present distress, we find a 
consolation which no other human sources could afford. 

Permit us. Sir, most earnestly to solicit the exertion of all your dis- 
tinguished abilities in favor of your native town and country upon this 
truly unhappy and distressing occasion. 

We sincerely wish you a prosperous voyage, a long continuation of 
health and felicity and the highest rewards of the good and faithful. 

We are, Sir, with the most cordial affection, esteem, and respect 
■ Your Excellency's most obedient and very humble servants: 

Robert Auchmuty Sampson S. Blowers 
Jonathan Sewall Shearjashub Brown 

Samuel Fitch Daniel Bliss 

Samuel Quincy Samuel Porter 

William Pynchon David Ingersoll 

James Putnam Jeremiah D. Rogers 

Benjamin Gridley David Gorham 

Abel Willard Samuel Sewall 

Andrew Cazneau John Sprague 

Daniel Leonard Rufus Chandler 

John Lowell Thomas Danforth 

Daniel Oliver Ebenezer Bradish 



[ 210 ] 



King's Attorney 

The signing of this address, and two months 
later the acceptance of the office of Mandamus 
Councillor, were the clinching proofs of Leonard's 
Toryism. He conducted his last case at the Taun- 
ton Court-House, June 14, 1774, and not long after 
paid the penalty of adherence to the Crown by 
exile. With Leonard's incumbency ended for all 
time the office of King's Attorney in Bristol 
County. 



Chapter XIII 
A Cause Celebre 

The stones of King Street still are red, 
And yet the bloody red-coats come, 

I hear their passing sentry's tread, 
The click of steel, the tap of drum. 

Holmes. 

FOR thirteen years, Paine had been practis- 
ing in a variety of petty cases, when Fame 
suddenly gathered him into her family, 
and carried his name into the American Colonial 
capitals from Boston to Williamsburg. By chance, 
he took a leading part in the trials following 
the street affray known as the Boston Massacre. 
This event, pivotal in Paine's career, and as sig- 
nificant to Boston as the battles of Lexington 
or Saratoga, was annually commemorated by a 
Fifth of March Oration, in which matters of 
greatest political importance were brought to 
public consideration. This holiday competed with 
the Fourth of July for several years after the 
Revolution. The annual orator received four 
yards of cloth for a new suit of clothes; the in- 
jured survivors of the fray stood by the door 
with beseeching open palms. A hundred and 
twenty years after the "Massacre" the Common- 
wealth of Massachusetts commemorated it by 
an eagle-crowned column on Boston Common, 
[ 212 ] 



A Cause Celebre 



not quite certain whether it was the memorial 
of a lawless street riot, or of the first martyrs 
in the War for Independence. The real issue in- 
volved was, not so much that citizens had been 
killed, but whether, in time of peace, Parliament 
could quarter a standing army upon a town with- 
out its consent. 

When the British fleet, in October, 1768, sailed 
into Boston Harbor, bringing two regiments of 
scarlet-coated soldiers to be quartered upon the 
town, it required but a slight knowledge of Yankee 
nature to foresee that one of the inevitable crises 
in history was about to occur. Here was a pro- 
vincial capital of eighteen thousand inhabitants 
who tried to keep the Ten Commandments, 
seldom attended theatres, frowned on frivolities, 
went to "meeting" three times on the Lord's 
Day, and sat content so long as there was no 
invasion of what they considered their natural 
right of local self-government. Into this com- 
munity came the British regiments, not only for 
an odious political purpose, but bringing the 
morals and manners of a European army to 
shock the Puritan provincials by their brawls, pro- 
fanity, coarse pastimes, and parades on Sunday. 
They came ostensibly to prevent smuggling and 
protect citizens; but really their presence was a 
threat. The Writs of Assistance, the Stamp Act, 
the Townshend regulations — these had aroused 
[ 213 ] 



Two Men of Taunton 



the indignation of the people, and George III, 
through his ministers, North and Hillsborough, 
had begun his short-sighted policy of humiliating 
Massachusetts. For a year and a half mutter- 
ings steadily increased. A boy had been killed; 
citizens were carrying cudgels as they walked the 
streets. The atmosphere was overcharged and 
a storm was imminent. 

March 5, 1770, dawned, — one of those crystal 
mornings when a kindly Providence has spread 
a fleecy, diamond-studded mantle over the earth 
to conceal its ugliness. The shedding of blood 
seems foreign to so chaste a setting. Yet on this 
day shots were fired whose echoes did not cease 
till Yorktown. The fight occurred in front of 
the Old State House. Every school-boy knows 
how the troops came marching out for evening 
exercise under Captain Preston; how pedestrians 
and street urchins taunted them, shouting "Lob- 
sters," "Bloody-backs," and flinging snow-balls, 
turnips, ice, and staves; how the soldiers endured 
this baiting until the infuriated Preston gave the 
word to fire; how the mulatto street-leader, 
Crispus Attucks, and several others fell, the first 
victims of the Revolution.^ The bodies of the 

^ Three, Attucks, Maverick, and Caldwell, were killed out- 
right. Two of the victims clung to life for several days and 
one dragged out a miserable existence for years. Over this 
same spot, in 1854, a marshal's posse conveyed another col- 
ored victim, Anthony Burns, escorted home to slavery be- 

[ 214 ] 



A Cause Celebre 



dead were escorted to the Granary Burying- 
Ground by the largest concourse ever gathered, 
till then, at a Boston funeral, men riding in from 
all the countryside; and the day passed with a 
calm control of civic passion, the soldiers being 
held within their quarters. No revenge was at- 
tempted; all the talk was of legal redress. The 
law took its course, as Governor Hutchinson, 
from the State House balcony on the night of the 
tragedy had proclaimed that it should. Attor- 
ney-General Sewall was ill, and in any event 
probably preferred not to conduct the prosecu- 
tion, and mentioned Paine, his friend of many 
years, as prosecutor — a suggestion approved by 
the Boston selectmen and Sam Adams. Samuel 
Quincy was retained as Paine's associate. For the 
defence John Adams came forward, thus giving a 
signal instance of his love of justice, and guaran- 
teeing a fair trial to the British offenders; with 
him Josiah Quincy acted as consulting counsel. 
These four attorneys had lived almost as neigh- 
bors; and the twelve "good men and true " of the 
jury came also from the southern outskirts of 
Boston. Paine and Quincy drew the indictments 
with legal nicety. 

William Warren, not having the fear of God 

cause law and morality were at variance, — his suspenders cut 
to prevent a sudden dash for liberty. 

[215] 



Two Men of Taunton 



before his eyes, but being moved and seduced by 
the instigation of the Devil and of his own wicked 
heart, did assault one Crispus Attucks, then and 
there being in the peace of God, and that he, the 
said William Warren, with a certain hand gun of the 
value of twenty shillings which he, the said William 
Warren, held In both his hands charged with gun- 
powder and two leaden bullets, then and there, 
feloniously, wilfully, and of his malice aforethought, 
did strike, penetrate, and wound the said Crispus 
Attucks in and upon the right breast a little below 
the right pap of him, the said Crispus, on,e mortal 
wound of the depth of six inches and of the width of 
one inch; and also thereby giving to him, the said 
Crispus, with the other bullet aforesaid so shot off 
and discharged by the said William Warren as 
aforesaid, in and upon the left breast, a little below 
the left pap of him, the said Crispus, one mortal 
wound of the depth of six inches and of the width 
of one inch, of which said mortal wounds, the said 
Crispus Attucks then and there, instantly died. 

The prosecution sought to prove : 

I. Whether the five persons said to be murdered 
were in fact actually killed. 

II. Whether they or any of them were killed 
by the prisoners, or any of them. 

III. Wliether such killing was justifiable, ex- 
cusable, or felonious. 

IV. And if the latter, whether it was man- 
slaughter or murder. 

[216] 



A Cause Celebre 



Captain Preston, at a special trial, was acquitted. 
The other prisoners pleaded not guilty. Samuel 
Quincy opened the case in prosecution; Josiah 
Quincy in the defence. For five days, the court- 
house was packed to hear the evidence. The eyes 
of Massachusetts were turned on Paine, and all 
the colonies were looking on, as he rose to sum 
up the case from the people's side. The Court 
had sat for eight days; everybody was wearied; 
Paine himself greatly fatigued in sifting evidence 
and preparing his brief; and the Scotch steno- 
grapher gave out before Paine finished. His 
argument was: that the conduct of the inhab- 
itants was no justification for the fire of the 
soldiery, who were in no real danger of being 
beaten or wounded, because the citizens were 
acting on the defensive; that the order to fire 
was unjustifiable, and so the prisoners were plainly 
guilty of murder. He reasoned from the common 
law and a sense of justice; a part only of his argu- 
ment is preserved. Gentlemen of the Green Bag 
may like to read a paragraph and catch Paine's 
style of addressing a jury. 

It now remains to close this cause on the part of 
the Crown, a cause which, from the importance of 
it, has been examined with such minuteness and 
protracted to such length, that I fear it has fatigued 
your attention, as I am certain it has exhausted my 
spirits. It may, however, serve to show you, gentle- 
[ 217 ] 



Two Men of Taunton 



men, and all the world, that the benignity of the 
English law, so much relied on by the counsel for 
the prisoners, is well known and attended to among 
us, and sufficiently applied to the case at the bar. 
Far be it from me to advance, or even to insinuate 
anything to the disparagement of that well-known 
principle of English law, in support of which, the 
counsel for the prisoners, last speaking, has produced 
so many authorities; nor should I think it necessary 
to remark particularly on it, but that it has been 
traced through so many volumes, and urged with 
so much eloquence and zeal, as though it were the 
foundation of their defence, or at least an argument 
chiefly relied on. But If you consider this sort of 
reasoning for a moment, you will be sensible that it 
tends more to amuse than to enlighten; and without 
great caution may captivate your minds to that 
principle of law, which Is endeared by the attributes 
of mercy and benignity, while It draws you entirely 
from justice — that essential principle, without 
which the laws were but an empty sound. Justice, 
strict justice. Is the ultimate object of our laws; and 
to me It seems no hard task to maintain, that the 
attribute of benignity or mercy, can be ascribed to 
nothing abstracted from that of justice; that a law 
all mercy, would be an unjust law; and therefore, 
when we talk of benignity, we can understand no- 
thing more than what is comprehended In Lord 
Coke's observation on our law In general, "that It is 
ultima ratio,^^ the last improvement of reason, which, 
in the nature of it, will not admit any proposition 

[ 2I8] 



A Cause Celebre 



to be true, of which It has not evidence; nor deter- 
mine that to be certain, of which remains a doubtc 
If, therefore, in the examination of this cause, the 
evidence is not sufficient to convince you, beyond 
reasonable doubt, of the guilt of all, or of any of the 
prisoners, by the benignity and reason of the law, 
you will acquit them. But, if the evidence be suf- 
ficient to convince you of their guilt, beyond reason- 
able doubt, the justice of the law will require you to 
declare them guilty, and the benignity of the law 
will be satisfied with the fairness and impartiality 
of their trial. 

Paine began in one afternoon and concluded 
the following noon. John Adams made the clos- 
ing plea for the prisoners, with exhaustive cita- 
tions from Crown Reports, Introducing classical 
allusions, and dwelling on the benignity of Eng- 
lish law. The jury returned in two hours and 
a half. They declared Weems, Hartlgan, Mac- 
Cartey, White, Warren, and Carroll not guilty; 
the defendants had been pelted with sticks, ice, 
and stones, in anger; their action was justifiable 
homicide. Kilroy and Montgomery were guilty 
of manslaughter. Adams, astute, familiar with the 
loopholes of the law, and having regard for the 
obligations of humanity, pleaded for "benefit of 
clergy." The sentence was commuted by the 
judges, and instead of dangling from the gallows, 
thanks to John Adams, the culprits held up their 
[ 219 ] 



Two Men of Taunton 



hands and set their teeth while a hot iron sizzled 
on the balls of their thumbs. That was redress 
for the death of five civilians ! 

Paine was disappointed in the verdict, but he 
had conducted the case with spirit, and won the 
acclaim of the leading Whigs of America. The 
acquittal of Captain Preston did not meet public 
approval. In a few days the town poet burst 
forth in lines which were found posted on the 
Town-House door: 

To see the suffering of my fellow towns-men, 
And own myself a man, to see the court 
Cheat the injured people with a shew 
Of justice, which we ne'er can taste of, 
Drive us like wrecks down the rough tide of power, 
While no hold 's left to save us from destruction, — 
All that bear this are slaves, and we are such, 
Not to rouse up at the great call of Nature 
And free the world from such domestic tyrants. 



Chapter XIV 
The Great and General Court 

I aim at nobler objects, what say you to politics — the general 
assembly? — Macaulay. 

ONCE In practice, the next ambition of the 
young lawyer is to secure a seat in the 
Great and General Court, that he may 
widen his web to catch more flies. Leonard was 
Colonel White's political legatee, much as White 
had caught the mantle of his father-in-law. Squire 
Williams. So it came about that Leonard, after 
stepping into White's shoes as King's Attorney, 
became a candidate for Representative at the 
May elections. Burke once said the best way to 
relieve private griefs is to devote attention to 
public affairs. There was much sympathy for the 
young lawyer, not yet twenty-nine, who had lost 
his beautiful bride. He had shown unusual 
faculty in debate; his mind was well cultivated 
and vigorous; his warmth of heart and liberality 
had given him a wide circle of friends. His father 
had a scheme to establish a new town out of 
Norton, North Precinct, and brought strong in- 
fluences to bear. These were favorable elements 
in his canvass. With James Williams, Daniel was 
elected, and duly appeared in Boston, May 31, 
1769, to take a new oath of fidelity to King George. 
[ 221 ] 



Two Men of Taunton 



The first business of the Assembly was framing 
a preamble: "Whereas a military guard is kept 
with cannon pointed at the very door of the 
State House," etc. The members protested that 
legislating in the cannon's mouth was "incon- 
sistent with the dignity and freedom with which 
the Assembly has a right to deliberate, consult, 
and determine." 

Commonly, the members from the country, 
rough-spoken and redolent of tobacco, were in- 
clined to be a little awkward and formal in 
manner, brusque, heayy-minded, not especially 
at ease with strangers. But this native of the 
timber-lands of Norton was never rus in urhe. If 
city dandies twitted him for carrying soil on his 
boots, he dusted them with his bandana and 
might answer, "Yes, yes, I am Lord of Acres." 
When the House had assembled and the presiding 
officer was appointing his committee to notify 
the Governor of the election of a Speaker, Leon- 
ard won a place, possibly by his polished appear- 
ance. The committee proceeded with pomp and 
dignity across to the Province House; notified 
Governor Francis Bernard that the House was 
organized and ready for business ; and asked him 
if he would kindly point his cannon the other way.^ 

^ Popular esteem for this Governor was never conspicuous; 
feeling now ran so high that some Harvard students cut the 
heart from a painting of him hanging in the College. 
[ 222 ] 




OLD PROVINCE HOUSE, BOSTON 



The Great and General Court 

Leonard was among those voting (June 29) to 
request King George to recall Bernard — the 
reason given being his published letters charged 
both houses of the General Court with "oppug- 
nation against royal authority." Moreover, they 
wished for Governor a native of New England, 
who understood their traditions and ideals. There- 
upon (July 16) Sir Francis testily prorogued the 
Assembly. Leonard went over to the Royal Ex- 
change Tavern, where an indignation meeting was 
held, and after a stormy discussion, promoted by 
rounds of punch, he hitched up his chaise, put a 
bag of grain under the seat, and started to report 
to his constituents at home. 

Two or three short sessions of the Legislature 
were held in the course of a year. During one of 
the interims Leonard had again married.^ He 
was now in possession of a new wife, new house, 
new revenue, and felt it proper to drive to Boston 
with a coach and pair, as no lawyer in the Pro- 
vince had ever done. So narrow were some of the 
streets that John Hancock must carefully look, 
as he drove in at one end, to make sure that 
Leonard was not driving in at the other. 

^ There is a custom in the Legislature of making a present to 
a Benedict during the session — a perquisite not to be over- 
looked by a scheming bride. Instead of two hundred and forty 
members as now, there were then but one hundred and forty- 
five in the Assembly. 

[ 223 ] 



Two Men of Taunton 



Thomas Hutchinson became the acting Gov- 
ernor in place of Bernard recalled. Dr. Wheaton, 
whose son was Leonard's American agent in after 
years, was the Norton Representative, and Zeph- 
aniah Leonard came from Raynham.^ Daniel 
introduced his bill to create a new town at the 
Norton North Precinct. This was duly enacted 
April 20, 1770, and Ephraim Leonard was ap- 
pointed to notify the townspeople to hold a meet- 
ing to choose town officers. Ephraim Leonard 
chose the name "Mansfield," in honor of Lord 
Mansfield, Chief Justice of England, an eminent 
Tory, thus giving an intimation of the Leonard 
attitude in politics. ^ In this session the Taunton 
Representative secured an act to define the bound- 
ary of the "Precinct" between Taunton and 
Middleboro — a good job for Paine, then surveyor 
of highways in Taunton. 

Governor Hutchinson convened the Assembly 
at Cambridge, in Philosophy Hall. This cham- 
ber, restored after the big fire, brought back to 
Leonard memories of the days when he fagged 
his brain over Bacon's "Essays," Newton's "Prin- 
cipia," or Locke "On the Human Understanding." 
Cambridge was displeasing to the Assembly on 
account of inadequate accommodations there and 

^ One year we find the town of Raynham paying a substan- 
tial fine for neglecting to return a member. 

' A few years later the General Court repented its act and 
attempted, unsuccessfully, to change this unhappy name. 
[ 224 ] 



The Great and General Court 

general inconvenience. The first business of the 
session of 1770, therefore, was to remonstrate 
against leaving Boston without necessity. The 
committee to draft the remonstrance consisted of 
James Bowdoin, Samuel Adams, John Hancock, 
Major Hawley, and Daniel Leonard; they repre- 
sented that only twice before had the Court been 
removed, on account of smallpox In Boston, and 
that there was now no such necessity. The Gov- 
ernor refused to yield, alleging that the char- 
ter gave him the right to assemble the General 
Court wherever he chose. A second time Leonard 
was on the committee to make protest, and 
again the Governor put his foot down. Then 
the Assembly voted that it should hereafter meet 
in the Boston Town House, the committee to 
convey this resolution to the Governor being the 
two Adamses, John Hancock, James Warren, 
and Daniel Leonard. The House stubbornly re- 
fused to do any business, and on June 25 Hutch- 
inson adjourned it to July 25, to meet at the same 
Philosophy Hall. The members nursed their 
wrath and sullenly met, only to send another re- 
monstrance, with Leonard still a member of the 
committee. Hutchinson now adjourned the As- 
sembly to September 26, again naming Cambridge 
as the place of meeting. There was no change in 
the attitude of either side, when It met, and a day 
of fasting and prayer was appointed for Octo- 
[ 225 ] 



Two Men of Taunton 



ber 3, 1770. The appeal to Providence did not 
soften the obdurate Governor; and on October 9, 
the House voted, 59 to 29, to proceed to business 
"under absolute necessity." Hutchinson smiled. 

The accumulating troubles of Massachusetts 
led the Assembly to appoint an agent in England, 
inasmuch as it was felt that the royal Governor 
did not represent the will of the people. The agent 
chosen to present the grievances of Massachusetts 
was a native of Boston, Benjamin Franklin, with 
a salary of £800. Leonard was much on his legs 
during the session, and so thoroughly imbued with 
patriotic zeal was he considered, that he was ap- 
pointed on the committee to consider Franklin's 
report. In May, 1 771, he was elected for the third 
time, and again drove to Boston, with General 
Godfrey as colleague. The friction between the 
Governor and Legislature was growing apace. 
As soon as the Assembly organized at Cambridge, 
the customary protest against this place of meet- 
ing was sent up by a committee (James Warren, 
John Hancock, Sam Adams, and Daniel Leonard), 
to which the Governor answered by adjourning 
them to July 25, 1772, — at Cambridge. 

Leonard ran for reelection in 1772 against Ne- 
hemiah Lyscombe,^ but was seized with measles 

^ Lyscombe was a "political moth"; the fire blazed too 
brightly; this seems to be his sole appearance in provincial 
affairs. 

[ 226 ] 



The Great and General Court 

at a critical point in the spring campaign and was 
defeated. 

In May, 1773, the cry went up, "no taxation 
without representation," — a plausible excuse 
for independence. If Parliament had consented 
to representation, the colonists would have been 
bound closer to the mother country and there 
would have been no separation. The stress of the 
times demanded the ablest men for the General 
Court; and in Paine's diary we find this entry: 

May 17, 1773. Dan'l Leonard and I chosen Re- 
presentatives of the town. 

Paine was now forty- two years old and had 
held various other offices, but this was his first 
election to the General Court. There had been 
many indications of his patriotic principles. His 
first office in Taunton was moderator of the town 
meeting; he was also on a committee to investi- 
gate an attempt to evade the revenue law in 1765 ; 
and he had been sent down to Boston in 1768 to 
a convention to protest against quartering troops 
upon the people. The title of "Honorable" was 
already prefixed to his name. In 1 77 1 we find 
him assisting in the erection of the new court- 
house, and in repairing the jail. He was chair- 
man of the Vigilance Committee of Taunton in 

1773- 
Both Representatives took an active part in 
[ 227 ] 



Two Men of Taunton 



this session, serving on many committees. Leon- 
ard now bore the title of "Colonel" on the Jour- 
nal. The first day of the session, Paine was on the 
committee to notify the Governor, as Leonard had 
been four years before. He was also one of a com- 
mittee of nine to consider the Hutchinson and 
Oliver letters sent over by Franklin, as prejudi- 
cial to A/[assachusetts. Upon recommendation of 
this committee, another committee consisting of 
Thomas Gushing, John Hancock, Sam Adams, 
Major Hawley, and Daniel Leonard drafted a 
letter to the King asking the removal of Hutch- 
inson and Oliver. Hutchinson immediately set 
about to win over Leonard to his views, and was 
successful, as we have seen. On the Gommittee 
of Gorrespondence, chosen by ballot May 28, 
1773, were Speaker Gushing, John Hancock, 
Sam Adams, Elbridge Gerry, Daniel Leonard, and 
several others. Leonard's popularity at this time 
is shown by his selection in preference to Paine, 
from Taunton, a patriotic centre of importance. 
By the middle of the session, Paine waxes more 
prominent in the counsels of the House, while 
Leonard wanes. Paine, Gushing, and Sam Adams 
prepared a letter to the Earl of Dartmouth. 
Leonard and Paine introduced a joint resolution, 
that the Gounty Gourt at Taunton should be 
holden in September instead of June, since it 
was important that members of the Legislature 
[ 228 ] 



_P.j.£U^t^-^^ ^*^^_*/<^-<-<L. /i*.^^..,^^^ y-iyr-^^ 






v-' , /- .'/;. ://.,,..■,•. :/■,'</;.. .y ,'„.',,,,, /,.,.>, f„' ;;.'... a,;^ 

. . /.'«'■ .-r- . < , r - ,. ,, rii ..^ ,,.y;, ,,/^ ,,^ , ,1 //,,,. 















/ e 



PETITION TO REGULATE HERRING FISHERIES, 1774 
(Signed by Paine and Leonard) 



The Great and General Court 

be present, some of whom had business in both 
places in June. 

The second session of the year convened Janu- 
ary 26, 1774, in Boston. Paine, now better known, 
was on the committee to "Consider the State 
of the Province," and also to report what pro- 
ceedings should be taken against the justices who 
persisted in accepting salaries from the Crown. 
In June, 1773, the Assembly had asked the Jus- 
tices of the Superior Court whether they would 
receive grants from the General Court or take their 
pay from the Crown. All except Oliver signified 
their intention of receiving their salaries from the 
Assembly. On this committee Paine made a 
first draft of the letter of impeachment against 
Judge Oliver. A crucial test came on February 11, 
1774, when the committee reported that Oliver 
should be impeached. Leonard voted against the 
report, with nine other Tories. On February 24, 
1774, the Chief Justice was impeached by the 
most important committee of that session. Its 
members were Adams, Hancock, Paine, Hawley, 
Phillips, Heath, Thayer, Pickering, and Fuller. 

March 3, 1774, a petition from Taunton to 
regulate alewife fishing, bearing the signatures, 
side by side, of Leonard and Paine, was granted.^ 
We find them voting together to compensate 

^ Artemas Ward, Henry Gardner, and Benjamin Lincoln 
came to Taunton to adjust the dispute. 
[ 229 ] 



Two Men of Taunton 



Thomas Leggett (presumably an inhabitant of 
Taunton) for his expense and trouble in "pursu- 
ing and bringing to justice one Hussy for theft." 
They walked together at the funeral of Lieuten- 
ant-Governor Oliver, when the militia officers 
were placed ahead of the Assembly in the parade, 
at which the latter, indignant, formed another 
procession. Three cheers were given over the 
grave by a few irreverent Patriots. 

Paine was on a committee which drafted a 
letter of remonstrance to the incoming Governor 
Gage, in March, 1774, which Gage declared an 
insult to his predecessor and an aifront to him- 
self. The General Court adjourned March 8, 
and March 30 was dissolved by the Governor. 

Leonard was drifting away from the Whig 
policies of his constituents, but under his lace 
and brocade beat a heart warm for friendship, 
and Taunton elected him for the fifth time in 
May, 1774, with Paine as colleague. ^ Though 
still loyal to his sovereign, Paine had developed 
liberal views, while Leonard, supporting the acts 
of the ministry, was endorsing the most abomin- 
able British tyranny. The Preamble of this vol- 
ume is an attempt to picture these two Repre- 
sentatives as Leonard's coach creaked and swayed 
over the rough roads toward Boston, and momen- 

^ Dr. William Baylies, brother-in-law of Leonard, was sent 
from Dighton that year. 

[ 230 ] 



The Great and General Court 

tous questions, which so strongly influenced their 
future Uves, were being discussed — matters which 
Leonard afterwards put in his Massachusettensis 
papers, and Paine argued in the Continental 
Congress. 

After a three days' session in Boston, Gage ad- 
journed the Assembly to the Salem Court-House, 
June 7, 1774. Leonard was chairman of the com- 
mittee to notify Governor Gage; he was also on 
a committee to consider building hospitals for 
smallpox cases. Paine was of a committee to draw 
up a new writ of elections; to bring in a bill for 
the prevention of bribery and corruption; also 
on committees to regulate "hawkers"; to con- 
sider petitions for the sale of lands ; and to regu- 
late the bills of credit of neighboring colonies. 
A petition of Felix Holbrook and other negroes, 
praying that they might be free, he shrewdly voted 
to refer to the next General Court. Paine's con- 
science may have twinged when he remembered 
how he had sold the negro, "London," in Carolina.^ 

^ Both Paine and Leonard were slaveholders. In Paine's 
diary, August, 1771, we read: "This day I bought of Robert 
Caldwell an Irish servant lad named Michael Crooke, for four 
years from the first day of August inst." In October, 1774, 
Michael, with Captain Cobb's negro, Cato, ran away; they 
were captured at Bristol, and put in jail for ten days. The 
white slaves were indentured servants, chiefly from Ireland, 
and often we find such slaves buried beside their masters. 
Paine's wife wrote him, during his later absence in Philadelphia, 
that she bought a "mustee" servant from Cuba, "so pretty you 

[ 231 ] 



Two Men of Taunton 



At this session, a committee was chosen os- 
tensibly to consider "the State of the Province," 
but, as Sam Adams alone knew, really to select 
delegates to the First Continental Congress. 
The whole continent was looking to Massachu- 
setts to appoint a time and place for this meeting. 
So popular was Leonard that in spite of his waver- 
ing, he was elected one of this committee of nine. 
To eflfect his purpose Adams required the utmost 
secrecy; the Governor's officials were watching 
closely. Any visible movement toward a general 
Congress would be thwarted, if discovered, by 
instant dissolution of the Assembly. The pen- 
etrating Adams saw it would be dangerous to 
have Leonard in his counsels; he must resort 
to strategy, or his scheme would fail. So the 
committee held official meetings, and under the 
clever manipulation of Adams, discussed nothing 
but vague propositions for conciliation. Every 
morning, Leonard punctually met with the com- 
mittee and in the evening stealthily communi- 
cated its proceedings to Gage, representing that 
the Legislature would recommend conciliatory 
measures, that the rash act of converting Boston 
Harbor into a teapot would be paid for by the 

must give her a pretty name." Paine christened her "Dolly." 
The town of Boston voted to abolish slavery in 1767, and June 
14, 1774, an act was passed by the Legislature to prohibit the 
importation of negroes. 

[ 232 ] 



The Great and General Court 

penitent "Mohawks," that the King's measures 
would prevail. Little did he suspect that every 
afternoon his committee was secretly meeting 
in a garret where Adams quietly perfected his 
plans. Gage relaxed his vigilance. To insure the 
success of his plot, Adams, "master of the pup- 
pets," now turns to his convenient friend, Paine, 
and engages him to induce Leonard to go home 
to Taunton under pretext of legal business. ^ 

Having won over a majority of the House to 
his point of view, Adams precipitated his coup 
d'etat on Friday, June 17. As soon as the Assembly 
came to order, the "smooth and placid Adams" 
locked the door and put the key in his pocket. 

^ An account of this strategy is found in Force's Archives: 
Governor Hutchinson had been superseded by General Gage, who 
came as both a military and civil leader (commander-in-chief), and to 
him was committed the execution of the Boston Port Bill. According- 
ly, agreeable to his instruction, after the General Court had met at the 
end of May, he adjourned them to meet at Salem, June 7. The Court, 
as soon as met, proceeded to organize itself as usual, one feature being 
to choose a committee of nine members to consider and report on the 
state of the Province, as the usage for many years had been. Thomas 
Cushing, having been chosen Speaker, had to put the question on the 
nomination of this committee. Eight persons were nominated and 
chosen, all considered firm in opposition to British measures; but by 
the mixture of nominations of both parties in the House, the name of 
Leonard was so repeated that the Speaker found himself obliged to 
declare him chosen. 

Leonard was a man of radical good sense and eloquence, polite and of 
engaging address, and had been chosen several years as member for the 
town of Taunton, on the idea of his firm and able support of the oppo- 
sition, in which his town was so determined; but on the prevailing ad- 
dress and salutation of Governor Hutchinson, he had changed his prin- 
ciples; and it was considered unsafe for the committee to enter into 
consideration of the state of the Province, on principles of opposition 
while he was present. 

[ 233 ] 



Two Men of Taunton 



His confederates were carefully drilled for their 
parts; resolves were presented appointing a com- 
mittee to meet on the first of September at Phila- 
delphia, with instructions "to deliberate upon 
the wise and proper means to be by them recom- 
mended to all the Colonies for the recovery and 
establishment of the just rights and liberties, 
civil and religious, and most ardently desired 
by all good men." The Tory members were in 
uproar in their effort to defeat the measure. 
Under pretext of illness, one escaped by a win- 
dow, and rushed to communicate the tidings to 
Governor Gage, who immediately sent a mes- 
sage of prorogation. Thomas Flucker, Secretary 
of the Province, hurried to the hall with this 
proclamation, but pounded on the locked door in 
vain. A crowd assembled, including some be- 
lated members of the Assembly, and to these, from 
the stairway, the messenger read the order. But 
Sam Adams and the enthusiastic Whigs within 
were "deaf," and proceeded to appropriate five 
hundred pounds for the expenses of the five dele- 
gates to Philadelphia. Then the door was quietly 
opened for Mr. Flucker to enter. 

Paine, by spiriting Leonard away, had saved 
the day, and as reward for valuable service Sam 
Adams had placed him on the Congressional 
Committee, the only member from Massachu- 
setts outside of Boston. On their way back to 

[ 234 ] 



The Great and General Court 

Boston the Taunton legislators learned of the pro- 
ceedings at Salem. Thenceforward relations were 
decidedly cool between Paine and Leonard. 

In December, 1774, the Provincial Assembly, 
of which Leonard was still, officially, a member, 
passed this resolve : 

Tuesday, December 6, 1774, Afternoon. 

Resolved, That the names of the following per- 
sons be published repeatedly, they having been ap- 
pointed councillors of this province by mandamus, 
and have not published a renunciation of their com- 
missions, viz.: Thomas Flucker, Foster Hutchinson, 
Harrison Gray, William Browns, James Bouteneau, 
Joshua Loring, William Pepperrell, John Erving, Jr., 
Peter Oliver, Richard Letchmere, Josiah Edson, 
Nathaniel Ray Thomas, Timothy Ruggles, John 
Murray and Daniel Leonard, Esquires. 

These officials were further proscribed by this 
Provincial Assembly at Concord, March 31, 1775, 
when a committee reported as follows : 

Friday a.m. 

Resolved, That the names of the following persons 
be published In all the Boston newspapers, who, hav- 
ing been appointed Councillors by his Majesty's 
Mandamus, and having accepted, and acted under 
said commissions, have proved themselves implac- 
able enemies to the liberties of their country, by 
refusing to publish a renunciation of their com- 

[ 235 ] 



Two Men of Taunton 



missions, agreeably to a resolve of a former Pro- 
vincial Congress : That the secretary be directed to 
transmit authenticated copies of this resolve, with 
names annexed, to all the printers in Boston, and 
that they be desired to insert the same in their 
papers, that every town may be possessed of their 
names, which are to be entered upon the town and 
district records, that they may be sent down to 
posterity, if possible, with the infamy they deserve. 

After the war began the Assembly declared these 
High Tories, then in exile, to be traitors to their 
country and voted capital punishment upon them. 
Thus Daniel Leonard, forbidden to return under 
penalty of the halter, was posted in Taunton with 
the disgrace which attaches to a traitor. On the 
other hand, Paine had been proscribed by George 
III, to whom he had been reported by Hutchin- 
son as "one of the busy spirits to be put down.'* 
In 1775, Paine and his brother-in-law, David 
Cobb, who succeeded Leonard, were sent to the 
Provincial Assembly at Watertown. Paine was 
again elected in 1777, when he served pro tempore 
as Speaker. 



Chapter XV 

The Continental Congress 

These are the times that try men's souls; the summer soldier and the 
sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of their coun- 
try; but he that stands it now deserves the thanks and love of man and 
woman. — T. Paine (in 1776). 

THAT midsummer journey of the Massa- 
chusetts delegates to the First American 
Congress in 1774, was akin to the Can- 
terbury Pilgrimage. A modern Chaucer might 
divertingly relate the experiences of the four way- 
farers as they travelled across country on their 
three weeks' drive to Philadelphia. Leaving the 
house of Thomas Cushing, in Bromfield Street, 
the foggy morning of August 10, they started 
with some parade to fulfil their instructions to 
" cement a lasting and permanent friendship with 
the mother country." The yellow coach and four, 
with mounted white guards in front and liveried 
blacks in the rear, took a turn around Boston 
Common, in sight of the British regiments there 
encamped, and rolled off to Watertown. As they 
passed the soldiers, one of the horses balked, until 
a British officer, pushing his head inside the coach, 
sardonically inquired if they had not harnessed 
in a Tory steed by mistake. 

Sam Adams's admiring neighbors raised a purse 

[ 237 ] 



Two Men of Taunton 



to iit him out with a new coat, breeches, hat, and 
wig. John Adams, the scribe of the company, had 
laid in quills and paper for his correspondence 
^^'ith Abigail. Paine, the most experienced travel- 
ler of the party, cariying a white canvas bag 
and ivor^'-tipped cane, played tlie role of jester. 
Speaker Gushing, "a harmless kind of man," was 
not quite so poor as his colleagues and could pay 
for tobacco and IMadeira along the way; but 
having property at stake, Gushing was so indif- 
ferent to the experiment of independence that 
he was defeated for reelection. Of tiiis passenger 
list, Sam Adams was fift>'-two; Thomas Gush- 
ing, forty-nine; Paine, fort}'-three; John Adams, 
thirt}'-eight; — all in tlie vigorous prime of life. 
Their route la}' through Watcrtown, Southboro, 
Hartford, W'allingford, New Haven, Alilford, 
Faii*field, Norwalk, Kingsbridge, to New York. 
There tliey stopped at the Bunch of Grapes 
Tavern for several days; then crossed tlie Jersey 
ferr}' to Elizabethtown, and so on to Princeton, 
Trenton, Bristol, and Philadelphia. 

At ^^^aterto^^^l they were regaled witli a ban- 
quet; along the way, much notice was taken of 
tliem; their speeches and achievements had given 
weight to their names; the fact that Massachu- 
setts was taking a prominent part in demonstra- 
tions against tlie Grown added to tiieir popularity; 
church bells were rung as they passed; men waved 
[ 238 ] 



The Continental Congress 

approval along the road, and good wives came 
to their dooi*ways to eye them curiously. They 
travelled in the cool of the morning; tobacco 
smoke poured from the coach windows above the 
billows of dust which trailed behind. Many good 
stories were told inside, and very likely Paine en- 
tertained them with a song. There was a chance 
to study human nature, which discloses itself in 
such close companionship. John Adams, doc- 
trinaire of the company, was not in good humor. 
He confided to Abigail as to this journey: 

No mortal tale could equal it. The fidgets, the 
whims, the caprices, the vanity, the superstitions, 
the irritability of some of us is enough to — " 

Here words failed him. When Leonard was men- 
tioned, even Sam Adams smiled as they told what 
a trick they had played on poor Daniel; but they 
grew serious at the thought of consequences, in 
case their mission should not prosper. Sam Adams, 
touchy, scheming, and velvet-fingered, was work- 
ing out plans to manipulate the Congress. He 
wanted Massachusetts to govern America, Boston 
to govern Massachusetts, and himself to govern 
Boston.^ As they jolted along, he instructed the 

^ The single name Adams means Samuel, not John; the 
latter discovered in Europe that he was not "the great 
Adams"; and Paine in 1776 found that there was another 
Paine greater than he in the minds of the people. When "Paine" 
was spoken of, it meant Thomas, not Robert. 

[ 239 ] 



Two Men of Taunton 



company not to obtrude the special grievances of 
Massachusetts, but to have patience until the « 
ferment of independence had worked to the sur- 
face. Major Hawley sent them a letter of advice, 
the upshot of which was we must fight. 

This quartette of Harvard-bred comrades 
stopped to confer with college faculties along the 
route. Exuberant undergraduates at Yale, King's 
College, and Princeton came out to speed them 
on their way with lusty cheers. The travellers 
climbed church steeples, comparing them to the 
Old South for height and beauty of the pano- 
rama revealed; they visited booksellers' shops; 
they feasted on chicken, green goslings, peaches, 
and "muskmelons a foot and a half long." Choice 
china and silver teapots were brought out; unac- 
customed curds and cheeses eaten — the fat of 
the land was none too good for them. Indeed 
Massachusetts delegates became so habituated to 
elaborate entertainments that once at a tavern 
they took possession of bountifully laden tables, 
supposing them spread in their honor — but were 
chagrined to find the banquet prepared for a 
bridal party momentarily expected. 

At Milford, Connecticut, Paine took the party 
to the tomb of Robert Treat, to read the inscrip- 
tion showing that his ancestor had been Gov- 
ernor or Lieutenant-Governor for thirty years. 
At New York, the Connecticut delegates joined 
[ 240 ] 



The Continental Congress 

them; and John Rutledge from South CaroHna 
rode along in their party — a congenial friend to 
Paine, with whom he could compare notes and 
experiences among the rice plantations. At 
Princeton, President Witherspoon showed the or- 
rery invented by Rittenhouse, over which Paine 
lingered with keen fondness for astronomy. By 
the time they reached Philadelphia, the dele- 
gates were not surprised to have the excited pop- 
ulace unharness the horses from their coach and 
draw it by hand through crowded streets. From 
the opening banquet at Watertown till they 
reached Mrs. Post's lodgings in Philadelphia,^ 
they had been hailed as the restorers of invaded 
rights — there were cheers and hats in the air, 
and "huzzas for brave old Boston." 

But they soon found themselves unhappy. 
Letters had been sent by some friends of the 
Government at Boston (of whom Leonard may 
have been one), representing the delegates as four 
"visionar}^ adventurers," a notion that prevailed 
for some time. A year later. Chaplain Duche, of 
Philadelphia, wrote that the associates of John 
Hancock were "bankrupts, attorneys, and men 
of desperate fortunes." As Massachusetts men, 
taking the initiative in Congress, they must first 

^ Paine's bills for personal adornment, entertainment of 
friends, servant's expenses, care of his horse, and his own board 
and lodging are preserved in the Massachusetts Archives. 

[ 241 ] 



Two Men of Taunton 



overcome this prejudice; next learn the character 
and disposition of other delegates ; then place the 
case of Massachusetts before Congress so clearly 
that it could not fail to be understood ; and finally 
must secure full colonial cooperation, without 
which Boston's heroic struggle would go for 
naught. The other colonists had been moulded 
by different influences and traditions. Would it 
be possible to reconcile the differences, to smooth 
away jealousies, establish a mutual understand- 
ing, unite all in a common cause, and create a 
nation of Americans instead of Virginians, New 
Yorkers, and New Englanders ^ 

On the fifth of September the members marched 
over to Carpenter's Hall and opened session. 
They were a picturesque and motley company, 
eyeing each other with the curiosity and reserve 
peculiar to strangers. Their ostensible purpose 
was to consider the affairs of the country, and 
present a petition to the King for redress of 
grievances; but far-seeing men knew that this 
meeting was a long step toward independence. 
The several colonies presented their particular 
grievances to the Congress, but all eyes were 
turned to the Massachusetts delegates, who had 
the sympathy of the body on account of the Bos- 
ton Port Bill. They met behind closed doors, 
and there is no complete journal of their proceed- 
ings. Putting our ear to the keyhole of Time, 
[ 242 ] 



The Continental Congress 

however, we hear Paine pleading for unity of 
action and resistance to tyranny. The prosecutor 
in the Boston Massacre case and the impeacher 
of OHver was sure of attention, though his temper- 
ament did not prompt fire-eating oratory against 
the King. 

In the painting of the first prayer in Congress, 
we see Paine kneeUng behind Edward Lynch. 
Had not the shrewd Adams considered it diplo- 
matic to ask a Southern Episcopalian clergyman 
to lead in prayer, he might have explained to the 
members that Brother Paine had ministerial expe- 
rience and have called upon him to ask the divine 
blessing. Paine's clerical affiliations were recog- 
nized by his appointment on committees to ar- 
range for fasting and prayer. 

The Provincial Congress of Massachusetts had 
sent an address to every minister in the Colony, 
urging assistance in opposing the tyranny of 
Great Britain. Most of them gave it, save Bap- 
tists, Quakers, and Episcopalians. The aggrieved 
Quakers and Baptists took this opportunity to 
try to gain relief from their disabilities and op- 
pressions. Shortly after Congress opened, Isaac 
Backus, of Middleboro, and President Manning, 
of the College of Rhode Island, appeared in 
Philadelphia and invited the delegates from 
Massachusetts to meet them at Carpenter's Hall. 
Paine, John Adams, and Cushing went back 

[ 243 ] 



Two Men of Taunton 



to the scene of the day's labors one evening, ex- 
pecting to find a handful of gentlemen to confer 
with. As they entered the hall, it seemed as if 
Congress had met for an evening session. Many 
of the company had their hats on. Some forty 
Baptists and Quakers, "with fires gleaming under 
their broad brims," had met to tax Massachusetts 
with persecution of their sects and with restricting 
liberty of conscience. Invoking the memory of 
Roger Williams, they dwelt upon the persecution 
of the Baptists, and one Pembroke "bellowed 
loudly against Boston for hanging Quakers." The 
specific complaint was that citizens were taxed 
to pay for the Orthodox meeting-houses, and the 
support of the settled ministers. One case in 
point with the Baptists was that their sect had 
been compelled to contribute to the support of 
the minister at Ashfield. 

The Congressional delegates, indignant at 
being summoned before this self-appointed tri- 
bunal which charged Massachusetts with religious 
persecution, protested in turn that her laws were 
the most mild and equitable In the world. Paine, 
who was the most thoroughly conversant with 
religious matters (having visited President Man- 
ning at Warren and attended Quaker general 
assemblies), was leading spokesman. He admitted 
that in earlier days the Baptists were compelled 
to pay a part of the general tax to support the 
[ 244 ] 



The Continental Congress 

Orthodox Church, but pointed out that under the 
general toleration act the Baptists were released 
from ministerial rates upon certificates of being 
in the fellowship of their denomination; and de- 
clared that the Massachusetts laws were just. 

The next day the Baptists sent a communica- 
tion to Congress saying that the conference was 
unsatisfactory, and they must seek further re- 
dress. Manning, cool in the patriotic cause, if 
not actually wishing the King's success, went 
back to Rehoboth to declare, in an intemperate 
moment at a council of Baptists, that there was 
not a member of Congress that might not be 
bought, and he knew Parliament had determined 
to buy them; that the Congregationalists of the 
North and Episcopalians of the South had joined 
forces to crush the Baptists between them. 

This was the most representative Congress 
ever assembled in America; composed, not of 
politicians, but of men of recognized capacities 
in various lines, including many good speakers. 
Rutledge, Stockton, Heywood, Lynch, Middleton, 
Pinckney, and Lawrence, educated in England, 
brought an air of elegance to the body.^ A part 

^ The men of greatest abilities and influence in this Con- 
gress were, says President Stiles: Samuel Adams, John Adams, 
Samuel Ward, Silas Deane, Matthew Tilghman, Peyton Ran- 
dolph, Richard Henry Lee, Henry Middleton, John Rutledge, 
Thomas Lynch, Christopher Gadsden, Edward Rutledge, Ste- 
phen Hopkins, Colonel Bland. 

[ 245 ] 



Two Men of Taunton 



only of the radicals had been concerned in calling 
this Congress; it was not legally constituted, nor 
did it have any authority for meeting by existing 
statutes. Many members were appointed by a 
small minority of their neighbors. The first days 
were spent in determining how members should 
vote. Paine was appointed upon the committee 
to draft rules of debate. The session lasted 
from September 5 to October 27. Its work was 
largely social, bringing all sections into mutual 
sympathy and a sense of unity. Recognizing a 
dinner as the best way to promote harmony and 
good fellowship, the Philadelphians arranged a 
grand banquet for the members. The sentiment 
of the majority being still for conciliation, this 
toast was given at the dinner: 

May the soul of the parent never be stained by 
the blood of the children. 

The Quakers decided this was a prayer, and filled 
up their glasses. Reconciliation was ostensibly 
the purpose, but the two Adamses and Paine were 
for making arms and gunpowder, since Parlia- 
ment had forbidden their exportation to America. 
Paine was not so zealous as Sam Adams for 
immediate independence; his blood was colder. 
He did not play the part of a whipper-in, but fol- 
lowed rather than led opinion. Though stanch in 
spirit, he was cautious and hesitant, acting as a 

[246] 



The Continental Congress 

brake on the wheel. ^ But he read the signs in the 
skies. At a party once given by Mr. Mifflin to 
Dr. Witherspoon, the Rutledges, Lee, Adams, and 
others, Paine gave this toast: 

May the coIHsion of British flint and American 
steel produce that spark of liberty which shall 
illuminate the latest posterity. 

Philadelphia was hospitable. After the fatigues 
of the day, the delegates, perhaps rather home- 
sick, were glad to go to any place where there 
were bright ladies, a good cook, and a cellar of 
choice wine. The New Englanders thought Phila- 
delphia inferior to Boston in the tone of morals, 
religion, spirit, and language — but admitted 
that it had a better market and more charity 
foundations.^ A contemporary news item from a 
Philadelphia paper discloses gayeties attendant 
on that first Congress which hurt the Quakers. 

The time of dissolution of Congress draws near, 
and all good Christians view its approach with calm- 
ness. All the plays, parties, and such will be given 
up. 

^ Seated in Congress, February 9, 1776, John Adams writes: 

" Mr. S Adams, Mr. Gerry, and myself now compose a 

majority of the Massachusetts delegates; we 're no longer 
vexed or enfeebled by divisions among ourselves, or by inde- 
cision or indolence." 

^ In an asylum Paine discovered one Ingraham whom he had 
convicted of horse-stealing in Taunton. 

[ 247 ] 



Two Men of Taunton 



Coming home, Paine left the other delegates at 
New York, took a sloop to Newport, visited Dr. 
Stiles, to whom he presented the Bill of Rights 
and Grievances, the Transactions of Congress, 
the Association for Commercial War, and the 
addresses to the English Colonies and Canada. 
He completed the journey by packet to Swansea, 
where he hired a boatman to row him to Taunton. 
A rousing reception by the Sons of Liberty wel- 
comed him on November 12, 1774. 

The Second Continental Congress met in May, 
1775. Paine set out April 24, with Richard 
Deane as "waiter." To show the patriotic zeal 
of Taunton, a troop of ten horse accompanied 
him out of town to protect him until he joined 
the hunted Adams and Hancock at Worcester. 
The party entered New York with grand escort. 
War had already begun at Lexington and Con- 
cord; Ticonderoga had been captured and concili- 
ation defeated in Parliament, though advocated 
by the powerful Chatham. Congress politely ad- 
dressed a communication to "His most excellent 
and gracious Majesty," but constituents at home 
were burning King George in effigy. When mes- 
sengers in trepidation brought the address to the 
King, the Earl of Chatham bowed so low in pre- 
senting it that the gentlemen-in-waiting saw his 
hooked nose between his legs. George III with 
a scowl handed the missive over to Lord North 
[ 248] 



The Continental Congress 

and the screws of oppression were given another 
turn. Britain was not only fighting with her 
colonial army, but was preparing a fleet to beset 
the coast and destroy American commerce. 
Congress must act promptly to meet attack and 
invasion. Washington was made commander-in- 
chief and war measures at large were adopted. 
In the selection of a general, Paine did not agree 
with John Adams. There is reason to believe that 
he had his friend, Hancock, in mind for the post, 
although in the presence of Washington, who sat 
with immovable face, in military uniform, he 
suggested that his college friend, Artemas Ward, 
would be a wise selection. When Adams, without 
warning, nominated Washington, Paine followed 
the majority, and later he found the General con- 
venient as a postman, to carry letters to his wife 
on the northward journey. 

In this Second Congress Paine was recognized 
on committees for fasting and prayer, and also 
for securing ammunition and providing barracks 
for cavalrymen. He was chairman of the com- 
mittee to devise ways to introduce the manufac- 
ture of saltpetre, together with Richard Henry 
Lee, Franklin, Philip Schuyler, and Thomas 
Johnson. Thus he rendered valuable service in 
securing gunpowder, an essential agent in effect- 
ing American independence. Paine wrote from 
Philadelphia, July 6, 1776: 
[ 249 ] 



Two Men of Taunton 



I have long since thought that the manufacture 
of arms and ammunition was an essential object 
of attention and have accordingly applied myself 
intensely to it. 

Again : 

America can never support her freedom until we 
have a sufficient supply of arms of all species among 
ourselves. 1 

He issued a circular describing the manufacture of 
gunpowder and went about the country seeking 
the precious article; bearing in mind that only 
because of empty powder-horns were the farmers 
driven back from Bunker Hill. After Philadel- 
phia was captured and its powder factories lost, 
France came to the rescue. - 

^ In a letter about saltpetre, he says: "It must afford great 
satisfaction to every town in the United Colonies to defeat the 
evil designs of their enemies in any respect; and it will gratify 
me to have attempted it, though, unfortunately it should not 
succeed. And without some effort, I fear it will e'er long be 
said, that we have become slaves, because we were not indus- 
trious enough to be free." 

* A letter written to Elbridge Gerry from Philadelphia, June 
10, 1775, exhibits Paine's patriotism: 

My very dear Sir: 

I cannot express to you the surprise and uneasiness I received on 
hearing the Congress express respecting the want of gunpowder; it was 
always a matter that lay hea\y on my mind; but the observation I made 
of your attention to it, and your alertness and perseverance in every- 
thing you undertake, and your repeatedly expressing it was your opinion 
that we had probably enough for this summer's campaign, made me quite 
easy. I rely upon it that measures are taken in your parts of the conti- 
nent to supply this defect. The design of your express will be zealously 

[ 250 ] 



The Continental Congress 

A committee to devise a plan to put the militia 
in proper state for the defence of America (ap- 
pointed June 24, 1775) included Paine, Benjamin 
Harrison, Stephen Hopkins, Christopher Gadsden, 
John Dickinson, and William Flynt. On July 19, 
1775, Paine, Lewis, and Middleton were made a 
committee to establish a hospital. Paine returned 
home in August and immediately rode up to sur- 
vey Bunker Hill. 

The Third Congress met September 5, 1775. 
Paine did not go on with the Massachusetts dele- 
gation; but the first week in September, Mrs. 
Paine and a new baby w^ere doing so well that 
the Congressman and Richard Deane, his valet, 
rode away again. Paine was on a committee 

attended to, I think. I have seen one of the powder-mills here, where 
they make excellent powder, but have worked up all the nitre; one of our 
members is concerned in a powder-mill at New York, and has a man at 
work making nitre. I have taken pains to inquire into the method. Dr. 
Franklin has seen saltpetre works at Hanover and Paris; and it strikes 
me to be as unnecessary, after a certain time, to send abroad for gun- 
powder, as for bread; provided people will make use of common under- 
standing and industry; but for the present we must import from abroad. 
Major Forster told me at Hartford, he suspected he had some land that 
would yield nitre; pray converse with him about it. Dr. Franklin's 
account is much the same as is mentioned in one of the first of the 
American magazines; the sweeping of the streets, and rubbish of old 
buildings, are made into mortar, and built into walls, exposed to the 
air, and once in about two months scraped and lix-iv-i-a-t-ed, and eva- 
porated; when I can describe the method more minutely, I will write you; 
meanwhile, give me leave to condole with you the loss of Colonel Lee. 
Pray remember me to Colonel Orne, and all other our worthy friends. 
Pray take care of your important health, that you may be able to stand 
stiff as a pillar in our new government. 

I must now subscribe with great respect and affection, 
Your humble servant, 

R. T. Paine. 

[ 251 ] 



Two Men of Taunton 



to visit Canada and secure cooperation with that 
colony, if possible, and to make a treaty with 
the Indians. Both armies were eager to enlist 
Indians, realizing how their barbarities would 
strike terror into the hearts of the enemy. Wash- 
ington, who knew that in time of battle Indians 
could not remain neutral (war being their normal 
occupation), especially urged that treaties be 
made to secure them to the Colonial side. Paine 
had been at Crown Point in 1755, and accordingly 
was put on the committee (November i, 1775) to 
repair to the northward and confer with the In- 
dians. Others on the committee were: General 
Philip Schuyler, John Langdon, Robert Living- 
ston, and Eliphalet Dyer. One thousand dollars 
was appropriated for the excursion. When the 
council of Onondaga Indians met the commis- 
sioners at Albany in December, the natives gave 
each of the white men a name in their own 
language. Paine was christened "Currensehee" 
(interpreted as "bearer of good news"), by which 
we may infer that he told these Indians of his 
life in their country on the Crown Point expedi- 
tion. 

When the question of an American fleet was 
under discussion, Paine favored postponing the 
matter, on the ground that the "whole continent 
would be mortgaged." And again, he did not 
believe that the quartermaster should keep a 
[ 252 ] 



The Continental Congress 

"slop-shop"; and he thought Congress should not 
agree to clothe the soldiers, but leave it to volun- 
tary private donations. 

Richard Henry Lee moved for a Declaration 
of Independence on June 7, 1776; John Adams 
immediately and heartily seconded the motion. 
The crowning glory of Paine's life came on the 
Fourth of July, when he carved his name on the 
portals of History; though it was not until August 
2 that he appended his signature to the immortal 
document now preserved. 

Paine did not write down an analysis of his emo- 
tions on this occasion, nor state what flush of 
high ardor came to him on that summer evening, 
as he pledged his life, property, and good name for 
our republic.^ He merely records in his diary: 
"July 4, 1776. Cool. This day the independence 
of the states voted and declared." One point is 
noteworthy — the weather was cool. We know 
that the heat of early summer had bred an in- 
sufferable swarm of flies in a neighboring stable 
which hastened the signing of the document. 

Of the fifty-six signers of the Declaration, 
thirty-four were Episcopalians ; twelve were Con- 
gregationalists ; five or six, Presbyterians; three, 

^ William Ellery said: "I was determined to see how they all 
looked as they signed what might be their death warrant. I 
placed myself beside the secretary, Charles Thomson, and eyed 
each closely as he affixed his name to the document. Undaunted 
resolution was displayed in every countenance." 

[ 253 ] 



Two Men of Taunton 



Quakers; one a Baptist; one a Roman Catholic. 
Of the Massachusetts delegation, Sam Adams, 
John Adams, Paine, and Hancock were Con- 
gregationalists, Elbridge Gerry an Episcopalian. 
Thus, two thirds of those who pledged their lives 
as godfathers of the new nation belonged to 
the very church by whose dictatorial tone the 
American people had been offended. A contro- 
versy with the Church of England had created 
schism in many places and aroused violent sec- 
tarian feeling. Deists and Freethinkers were on 
the side of liberty. 

The founders of our nation did not incorporate 
any religious belief in their political documents.^ 
Washington, while President, said: "The govern- 
ment of the United States is not in any sense 
founded on the Christian religion." Thomas 
Paine became a strong influence when his essay 
on "Common Sense" came out in 1776; and 
Robert Treat Paine wrote, July 6, 1776, after 
signing the Declaration of Independence, "There 
is too much Calvinism apparent." 

The principles of the founders will live on, but 
in a thousand years, newer liberties and justice un- 
dreamed of in our philosophy may arrive. Truth 
moves forward forever. The Declaration was but 

^ Writing to Benjamin Kent, John Adams said: "I hope 
Congress will never meddle with religion further than to say 
their own prayers." 

[ 254 ] 



The Continental Congress 

a single milestone in the never-ending progress of 
human rights. It guarantees to every one the op- 
portunity to find his level — the right to rise above 
environment — or, as Lowell puts it, to be his 
own oppressor. Under it every man is King. Its 
best feature is its affirmation of ideal truths, not 
the list of grievances against George III. 

A year before Paine put his name to this man- 
ifesto, proclaiming all men created free and equal, 
he had been the owner of a slave. 

This letter from Paine, written in the Fall of 
1776, shows how his time was occupied: 

Our public affairs have been exceedingly agitated 
since I wrote you last. The loss of Fort Washington 
made way for that of Fort Lee; and the dissolution 
of our army happening at the same time, threw us 
into a most disagreeable situation. The intercep- 
tion of an express, gave the enemy full assurance 
of what they must have had some knowledge of 
before, the state of our army; and they took the 
advantage of it. In two days after their possession of 
Fort Lee, on the 20th of November, where we lost 
much baggage, and the chief of our battering can- 
non, they marched to the Hackensack, and thence 
to Newark, driving General Washington before 
them, with his 3000 men — thence to Elizabeth- 
town. General Washington supposed, from the 
best information he could get, that they were 10,000 
strong; marching with a large body of horse in front 
and a very large train of artillery. We began to be 

[255] 



Two Men of Taunton 



apprehensive they intended for Philadelphia, and 
Congress sat all Sunday in determining proper 
measures on the occasion. I cannot describe to you 
the situation of this city. The prospect was really 
alarming. We could not calculate on a force suffi- 
cient to defend the city on such a sudden call. Gen- 
eral Lee was on the other side of the Hudson River, 
and no hope could be expected from Ticonderoga. 
But to work we went — the associations of the city 
were drawn forth, and about 3000 men, with some 
artillery, marched. The country associations were 
called upon, but there was no expectation of immedi- 
ate relief from them. As the week advanced, we 
had repeated advices from General Washington, of 
the unopposed approach of the enemy, headed by 
General Cornwallis. On Monday we were informed 
that they had arrived at Brunswick, and that 
Washington was retreating to the west side of the 
Delaware. We sent many Continental stores into 
the country, and great numbers of the people are 
moving. The shops have not been opened since 
Sunday; and there was a real apprehension that we 
should be routed. I need not tell you what our cal- 
culations were on the expectation of losing this city. 
I had called in my accounts and prepared matters 
for a regular retreat: But on Thursday we found the 
enemy had not crossed the Brunswick River. By 
an officer of my acquaintance, who went with a flag 
to the enemy, to exchange a prisoner, we learned 
that they were about 6000 strong; and were sur- 
prised to find Newark and Elizabethtown evacuated 

[256] 



The Continental Congress 

by its inhabitants; that they knew the state of our 
army, which induced them to make the excursion. 
The enemy are in possession of a large part of New 
Jersey; and the remaining part is greatly distressed 
by their approach. But I hope this affair will rouse 
them from that lethargy which occasioned this 
excursion. Had their militia been alert and resolute, 
and given General Washington the support they 
might have done, these events had not happened; 
but carelessness and apathy have been the lords of 
our ascendants this last month. It is to no purpose, 
however, to scold. Let us carefully ascertain our 
past errors, and amend them. Sunday, 8th : Congress 
were called this morning, on advice that General 
Howe had joined General Cornwallis with a large 
reinforcement, and was marching to Princeton. This 
measure induces us to think, that the expedition is 
against Philadelphia. Monday, 9th: Yesterday Gen- 
eral Washington crossed the Delaware, and the enemy 
arrived at Trenton, on the east side, thirty miles from 
this place: Close quarters for Congress! It obliges 
us to move; we have resolved to go to Baltimore. 

When Lord Howe and Cornwallis moved on 
Philadelphia in December, 1776, and Congress in 
alarm fled to Baltimore, Paine put eight bottles 
of port wine in his stateroom before embarking; 
but he soon changed plans and started for home. 
While crossing the North River Ferry his port- 
manteau went overboard; his horse died en route, 
but he secured another, put his chaise on runners; 
[ 257 ] 



Two Men of Taunton 



dined with Governor Trumbull of Connecticut; 
and reached home New Year's Eve, 1777. 

Paine did not return to Philadelphia, though 
elected for the year 1777 (year of the three gib- 
bets the British soldiers called it). He was en- 
gaged in field work for the Congress; this letter 
to Gerry explains his whereabouts : 

Boston, April 12, 1777. 

My Dear Sir, 

I have before me, your kind letter of February 
14th, and have delayed writing merely because I 
was in expectation of collecting something solid and 
decisive respecting some public measures, but mat- 
ters seem to be worrying on at a strange rate; the 
regulating act, though framed with the greatest 
care and good intentions, and though called for by 
almost everybody, is now reprobated by many and 
obeyed by few. Many that are supposed good judges 
in the mercantile way tell you, "that if silver and 
gold were passing instead of paper, the prices of 
goods would be as high, and that nothing but reduc- 
ing the glut of paper currency will save the credit 
of it." No doubt goods would be higher in war than 
peace, and the act made provision for that, and 
meant to state such prices as silver would regulate 
in time of such war: but the glut of money is hor- 
rible. Yet while I lament the emission of such quan- 
tities, I can but recollect the occasion: taxation 
should have begun sooner, loans should have been 
coeval with the emission: but unhappily, govern- 
[ 258] 



The Continental Congress 

ments were not sufficiently formed nor the people 
prepared In all of them for the former; and the seat 
of war drawing the bulk of the currency with it, 
made loans Impracticable and disagreeable In other 
governments. The remedy Is obvious: particular 
governments must emit no more, on pain of censure. 
Rhode-Island In particular must be watched most 
narrowly, or she will drown New-England with 
paper, and then suffer Individuals to do all In their 
power to depreciate It; of which there are some 
shocking Instances. We have begun taxation with 
an assessment of £105,000; and such has been the 
largeness of the bounties given by some towns, to 
raise the new army, as to equal their proportion of 
the public tax; which altogether falls as heavy again 
on Individuals as It did last war. But the great evil 
lays here, for which some remedy must be found: 
the course of the war has thrown property Into chan- 
nels, where before It never was, and has Increased 
little streams to overflowing rivers: and what is 
worse, In some respects, by a method that has 
drained the sources of some as much as it has re- 
plenished others. Rich and numerous prizes, and 
the putting six or seven hundred per cent on goods 
bought In peace time, are the grand engines. Mon- 
eys In large sums, thrown Into their hands by these 
means, enables them to roll the snow-ball of mono- 
poly and forestalling; and thus while these people 
are heaping up wealth and (what Is very astonish- 
ing) doing everything to depreciate their own pro- 
perty, the remaining part are jogging on In their old 

[ 259 ] 



Two Men of Taunton 



way, with few or no advantages; and the salary 
men and those who live on the interest of their 
money are suffering exceedingly. Let us now apply 
taxation to these circumstances. The man of visible 
property will stand highest in the valuation. It is 
exceeding hard to ascertain stock in trade; and with 
many of these people large sums come and go 
lightly: by this means they who are best able to pay 
the tax and circulate the money back to the foun- 
tain where it is wanted, escape with a very small 
proportion; while others who stand high in the valu- 
ation because they used to be so, are called upon for 
sums that bear hard upon their abilities. Cannot 
some mode be hit upon to draw money by taxation 
from those who are really the possessors of it.'* Might 
not an impost on privateers or their prizes be so 
contrived as to bring large sums to the treasury 
without discouraging that business.'' Why should 
one part of the community reap such large profits 
by a branch of business licensed by Congress, with- 
out contributing their proportion towards support- 
ing government.'' It will eventually be serviceable 
to them, as it tends to secure their accumulated 
wealth from the enemy and from depreciation. If 
the southern governments say they are not ripe for 
these matters or do not need them, I hope they will 
consent to some useful measures for regulating mat- 
ters with us. The lottery tickets came at last and sell 
rapidly; and I think the sale of the first class will 
ensure the sale of all the others: the plan is very 
popular. The loan tickets sell very fast, and I 

[ 260 ] 




INDEPENDENCE HALL 
Philadelphia 



The Continental Congress 

please myself with the prospect of great profit from 
these branches. For Heaven's sake, let something be 
set a-going before these are exhausted. There must 
not be more money emitted, and all the colonial 
emissions must be called in as soon as possible. 

I have wrote Mr. Hancock about our progress in 
cannon-making. They make good iron field-pieces 
at Connecticut and at Providence. I hear Mr. 
S. Adams was very ill at Baltimore, but I had the 
pleasure of hearing from his lady the other day that 
he was recovered. My compliments to both the 
Mr. Adams': I intended to have wrote them on 
particular subjects, but continual avocations render 
it impracticable. Pray describe to me, as nearly as 
you may, the situation of your affairs. Without any 
great skill in astrology, I calculate that you intend 
to send for me seasonably, before dog-days come on. 
I hope you are well and in good spirits. Remember 
me to Mr. Lovell. I wish to know to what pitch the 
price of living and expenses have arisen. 

The House have passed a resolve calling upon 
towns to instruct their next Representatives to con- 
sult and form government: it now lays at the board. 
The smallpox is breaking out continually, — hos- 
pitals erecting in very many places. There are so 
many objects of importance to attend to, that one 
may well say in a political sense, the harvest is 
great, but the laborers are few. 

I am your friend and servant, 

R. T. Paine. 



Chapter XVI 
A Tory Absentee 

True patriots all, for, be it understood, 
We left our country for our country's good. 

George Barrington. 

INITIATED by Hutchinson and Oliver, an act 
of Parliament in 1774 increased the number 
of councillors in Massachusetts from twenty- 
eight to thirty-six. They were not elected by the 
General Court but were appointed by the Crown 
to inaugurate the new Trade Regulation Acts, and 
were known as Mandamus Councillors. The em- 
ployment of leading Tories as officials unloosed 
popular rage against those "ministerial tools"; 
the thirty-six councillors named in the King's 
writ of mandamus became at once objects of 
persecution. When the Scarborough sailed into 
Boston Harbor, early in August, 1774, it brought 
the appointment of Leonard to this opprobrious 
office: and August 15, he was officially sworn in. 
When he came home and the news of his appoint- 
ment spread through the neighboring towns, 
a thousand or more Sons of Liberty flocked to 
Taunton Green and waited upon Leonard, re- 
questing him to recant his acceptance. But a man 
[ 262 ] 



A Tory Absentee 

of his temperament would not "swallow the 
oath" and submit to the humiliation of signing 
a letter of resignation. He had sworn allegiance 
to British laws, and had faith in the power of 
England to crush a rebellion of these undisci- 
plined farmers. Ephraim Leonard (though at 
heart he, too, had Tory leanings), fearing bodily 
injury to his son, tried to reason with the throng 
and promised to influence Daniel to resign. He 
pleaded with the Whigs of whom Nat Leonard 
was the leader, not to demolish Daniel's house. ^ 
The savage chief, Philip, a hundred years earlier, 
was so attached to Leonard's grandfather that, in 
his mandate for killing all white men, he excepted 
his friend's family; but when the incensed neigh- 
bors and kindred of Daniel Leonard found him in 
league with the King's tyrannical representatives, 
they were ready to turn and rend even one of 
their own flesh and blood. Whatever his former 
services had been, the Patriots ignored them all. 
Always in the body politic is an element in which 
the combativeness of primitive man is uncon- 
trolled and intemperate. When this irresponsible 
element finds it has the covert sanction of law- 
abiding citizens, a train of trouble is soon ignited. 
As soon as this class found public sentiment against 
Leonard, it saw a chance for mischief. The mob 

' A mob later burned Oliver Hall at Middleboro, and carried 
away choice bits of furniture and plate as souvenirs. 

[263] 



Two Men of Taunton 



marked him for a victim.^ He was threatened 
and hooted until one night, foreseeing an outbreak, 
he prudently fled to Boston, leaving, like M'Fin- 
gal, "his constituents In the lurch." The next 
day a half-drunken rabble, not content to hurl 
brickbats at the house, fired bullets after nightfall 
into his lighted window, supposing that Deputy 
Sheriff Williams was lodged there.^ 

The startled wife and new-bom son remained 
in Taunton a month ; then one morning they were 
taken cautiously through the back garden to the 
Old Bay Road, where a coach was waiting in 
which they took final leave of Taunton. 

It was August 21, 1774, that Daniel Leonard 
abandoned his home at Taunton Green, around 
which clustered his early hopes, loves, and ambi- 
tions; a spot also endeared to him by sorrow. 
Thenceforward, in the language of the law, he 
was an "absentee," Taine, disregarding the law 
of personal choice, says: that, given the race, 
place, and the minute, he would tell what a per- 
son would do under any circumstance. Could he 
have told that the Yankee Leonard, coming to this 
cross-roads, would not choose to ally his after 
life with his countrymen who were to build the 

^ The mob has been called the first-born child of oppression; 
English history affords some startling examples of mobs that 
were the offspring of delusion. 

' One of the shutters, showing the bullet holes, is still pre- 
served by the local Historical Society. 

[264] 



A Tory Absentee 

mightiest nation the world has lately seen, but, 
turning back the hands of the clock, would return 
to the land of his forefathers? Let us speculate 
a moment. In lieu of being posted on the Town- 
House door and publicly branded as an enemy 
to the rights and liberties of the United Colo- 
nies, Daniel Leonard, with other advisers, might 
have been the Representative of the Old Colony 
in Congress instead of Paine. Once present 
among those assembled statesmen, — Washington, 
Jeiferson, Franklin, the Adamses, Morris, Lee, 
Hancock, Randolph, Sherman, Jay, Livingston, 
— his recognized abilities might have lifted 
him even to the chair later occupied by John 
Adams. 

At first the Tories sought the protection of 
British bayonets in Boston. For nearly a year after 
the nineteenth of April, 1775, martial law pre- 
vailed. No merchandise was carried away; passes 
were required in and out of the lines ; letters were 
opened and those who showed inclination to re- 
bellion were arrested and roughly handled. The 
refugees talked over the extremities to which 
they were driven; how they were insulted, as- 
sailed, and barely escaped with their lives, or 
saved their houses from being burned and their 
property carried away by the insatiable mob; 
and how even the Loyalist ladies were pelted and 
abused with indecent billingsgate. 

[265] 



Two Men of Taunton 



The persecution of Tories was not conducted 
haphazard by the "mushrooms," as the Sons of 
Liberty were derisively called. So early as No- 
vember, 1772, Committees of Correspondence had 
been organized throughout Massachusetts, and 
in 1773 they were also formed in other colo- 
nies. These so effectively secured unity of action 
that France afterward imitated the scheme in her 
Revolution. Adams exclaimed in admiration, 
"What an engine!" Leonard, with Tory abhor- 
rence, pronounced the scheme the "foulest, sub- 
tlest, and most venomous serpent ever issued 
from the egg of sedition." Paine was careful 
to be chosen chairman of this committee in 
Taunton. 

Thomas Paine, in his "Common Sense," thus 
characterizes the Tories : 

Interested men who are not to be trusted; weak 
men who cannot see; prejudiced men who will not 
see, and a certain set of moderate men who think 
more of the European empire than it deserves. This 
last class, by an ill-judged deliberation, will be the 
cause of more calamities to this government than 
all the other three. 

Leonard manifestly belonged to the fourth 
class. With King George, he would say: "To live 
and die an Englishman is good enough for me." 
He had read how Lord Shelburne predicted that 
with the loss of the American Colonies the sun of 
[ 266 ] 



A Tory Absentee 

England would set and her glories be eclipsed for- 
ever. The rebels were mostly of the middle and 
lower classes, encouraged by a knot of well-edu- 
cated gentlemen, like Paine. In New England the 
Church of England as a body stood for loyalty. In 
the southern portion, Plymouth and Newport were 
Loyalist strongholds. In Virginia, the imprudence 
of Governor Dinwiddle had alienated the class to 
which Washington and Jefferson and the Anglican 
clergy belonged, but most of those who resisted 
lawful authority had little to lose. 

Secretive "neutrals" kept their places and 
properties. Some, like Ephraim Leonard, would 
at a later day have been called "Copperheads." 
Their coating of patriotism sometimes wore 
through, revealing inner sentiments that endan- 
gered their lives. The Conservatives did not mas- 
terfully use their powers of public leadership, but 
stood aloof. A few of the younger men took up 
arms for Britain; in the whole country during 
the eight years of the War, some 20,000 Tories 
were enrolled with the British troops. In a meas- 
ure it was a civil feud. The bitter animosity 
lasted to the third and fourth generation; persons 
now living remember how female descendants of 
Tory Gilbert could not disguise their scorn of the 
United States upon visiting the ancestral home 
at Berkley. 

Crown officers, the "Stalwarts" of the To 

[267] 



Two Men of Taunton 



party, considered the vengeance of their King 
not a whit more severe than just. Tories were 
Hcensed to "prowl for their own Uving" — mak- 
ing forages along the seaboard in sloops. They 
held that American farmers ought to pursue their 
private interests, improve their commerce, and 
cultivate their farms, but leave the regulation of 
the State to others more competent. In the face 
of the Boston Port Bill, Leonard wrote: 

If the Egyptian darkness that hovers over the 
land could be dispersed, people might see George III 
as a provident father of all his people. 

Among the Tory gentry who, against their will, 
took up a residence in Boston that winter, were 
Taunton merchants, — Solomon Smith, William 
Borland, Gideon White, Tom Laughton, and 
Seth Williams.^ Another, perhaps more distin- 
guished, friend of Leonard was Dr. William Mc- 
Kinstry, who established himself in Boston, and 
was appointed by General Gage as Surgeon-Gen- 
eral of Hospitals. Although the doctor was of 
high character and much esteemed, yet the fact 
that he dressed the wounds of Colonel Gilbert, the 
Loyalist, led to such unpopularity that McKin- 
stry, sensitive and feeble in health, insured him- 
self against insult by retreat. 

* From Easton came Daniel Williams; from Dighton, Eben- 
ezer Phillips; from Freetown Lot Strange. Henry Tisdale. Sam- 
uel Gilbert. 

[ 268 ] 



A Tory Absentee 



Colonel Gilbert, of Freetown, was a strong per- 
sonality — the loyal watch-dog of southern Mas- 
sachusetts. At the request of General Gage, he 
mustered 300 volunteers to overawe the Patriots. 
His forces were nicknamed "Gilbert's Banditti." 
The Sons of Liberty thought that his sentiments 
did not agree with the name of his town, and waited 
upon him to expostulate, after his followers had 
cut down the Liberty Pole at Berkley. The 
intended surprise was thwarted by a slave at 
work in the flax-field, who ran to his master. 
Gilbert hurried into the house and bade his serv- 
ants make a great clash and jangle with iron 
chains, as if his house were full of armed soldiers, 
while he got out of a rear window and escaped 
through the woods to a British frigate at Newport.^ 
Gilbert died in Nova Scotia aged eighty-two. 
After the family were expatriated, the occupant 
of the Gilbert house in Berkley dreamed one 

^ The Provincial Congress in April, 1775, unanimously 
declared that "Colonel Thomas Gilbert is an inveterate enemy 
to his country, to reason, to justice, and the common rights of 
mankind"; and that "whoever had knowingly espoused his 
cause, or taken up arms for its support, does, in common with 
himself, deserve to be instantly cut oif from the benefit of com- 
merce with, or countenance of, any friend of virtue, America, 
or the human race." Gilbert repaid the General Court in kind. 
He wrote to his sons from Boston: "Dear Sons, if these wicked 
sinners, the Rebels, entice you, believe them not. They are 
more savage and cruel than heathens, or any other creatures, 
and, it is generally thought, than devils." 

[269] 



Two Men of Taunton 



night of hidden treasure. He arose in the morning 
and dug out of the cellar a couple of hinds-foot 
spoons that had been buried for fear of loot by 
the visiting posse. 

Another eminent refugee and friend of Leonard 
was Dr. Benjamin Church, scholar, physician, 
poet, and quondam patriot, who wrote elaborate 
verses and epitaphs for his friends, and built a 
pleasant summer home at Nippenicket, which put 
him so in debt that he abandoned it to the Whigs. 
He conveyed news to General Gage for money; 
was convicted, banished, and lost at sea with his 
family in 1776. 

George Leonard, a cousin, became a zealous 
Tory, took command of a loyal regiment and 
finally retired to Nova Scotia. 

A number of these "High Tories" dwelt at the 
head of Quaker Lane in Boston. Shopkeepers 
along this lane kept bells on their doors, and when 
one of the Tories was observed passing by, the 
signal was given by ringing a bell, which was 
repeated down the line, and thus they were com- 
plimented until out of sight. 

Even within the British lines, Leonard was not 
exempt from annoyance, and at night a sentry 
slept in his house for protection. Perhaps in this 
way smallpox entered his family, for conflict 
between the townspeople and the soldiers had 
spread that disease from the unsanitary British 
[ 270 ] 



A Tory Absentee 

barracks. Leonard writes that his whole family 
were then inoculated. We can picture them in 
their distress at the Boston pest-house, when that 
old joker, Rev. Mather Byles (whose son had 
performed Leonard's marriage ceremony), used to 
enter the hospital, stretching his arms in mock 
priestly benison, and dryly remarking: "Pox 
take 'em."^ 

Fear of indignities, and even of death, kept 
Leonard a prisoner in this little peninsula of 
Boston a year and a half. Provisions were dear, 
and Colonel Ephraim Leonard, from time to 
time, drove up to Roxbury carrying a leg of mut- 
ton or a side of veal for Daniel, but did not secure 
a pass to enter the town from dread that he would 
bring away varioloid infection. General Gage 
wrote home to his friends that he saw the roast 
beef of Old England only in his dreams; and the 
Patriots smiled to think of the town bull (aged 
twenty) served as the piece de resistance at an 
English nobleman's dinner-table. Hunger came 
so close that rats, reading the handwriting on the 
wall, began to move out of town. Business was 
practically at a standstill. The poor of Boston 
were set to paving streets; asking for bread, they 
were given a stone. The inhabitants burned torn- 
down fences, houses, and even churches for fuel, 
British ships supplied the Mandamus Councillors 

* Pax tecum. 
[ 271 ] 



Two Men of Taunton 



with coal and provisions in preference to other 
Bostonians.^ 

To such dire straits did they at length subside, 
"Hell, Hull or Halifax could be no worse," they cried. 

Leonard's income from law practice was now 
cut off. Obliged to borrow from old friends and 
relatives to maintain his uncomfortable existence, 
he sought a position in keeping with his legal 
ability. When David Lisle, Solicitor to the Com- 
missioner of Customs for Boston, died in Feb- 
ruary, 1775, Leonard was appointed in his stead. 
He held the place as a sinecure, the hostilities 
curtailing its former duties. What was most im- 
portant, he drew the salary of £360 long after 
the authority of that board ended. The com- 
missioners were practically a Court of Admiralty 
in Boston, which, before the disturbances, had 
been the largest port of entry in America, and 
Leonard was their counsel. He found leisure to 
frequent the Royal Exchange and Green Dragon 
Taverns. The summer of 1775 was a lively one for 
the shut-in town of Boston. Major-Generals Howe, 
Clinton, and Burgoyne had come with their 

* Burns was satirizing the situation among his roystering toss- 
pots in the tavern of Ayr, in such jargon as this: 

"Poor Tammy Gage within a cage 
Was kept at Boston ha' man, 
Till Willie Howe took o'er the knowe 
For Philadelphia, Man." 

[ 272 ] 



A Tory Absentee 

regiments; the active rebels had been forced to 
outlying towns, a few citizens withdrawing to 
Taunton. There were about 20,000 people in 
Boston, of whom 13,000 were soldiers. The social 
life was military. Earl Percy and the Province 
House maintained as sumptuous dinner tables as 
the limited Boston larders could afford. The elite 
of New England were represented in this com- 
munity by the Vassalls, Lees, Olivers, Hutchin- 
sons, Brattles, Brownes, Hallowells, to mention 
but a few. Leonard listened to stories of over-sea 
life and the tremendous power of Great Britain; 
laughing to think the provincial yeomanry should 
presume to defy the well-disciplined royal troops. 
There were daily parades on the Common, in- 
tended to overawe the Yankee farmers. 

Then one still June morning, the town was 
awakened by the booming of cannon from the 
Somerset (anchored in the Back Bay where Bea- 
con Street now lies), to find that breastworks 
had been suddenly erected during the night on 
Breed's Hill, in Charlestown. There was imme- 
diate activity among the soldiery to clear away 
the redoubt. Cannon were hastily mounted above 
the graves of the Mathers on Copp's Hill, and troops 
transported to Charlestown. Dr. McKinstry had 
arranged a Sunday dinner-party, but the guests 
left his table to take part in the assault. Let us 
picture Colonel Leonard at this party among 

[ 273 ] 



Two Men of Taunton 



those who ascend to the roof of the house to 
watch the near-by battle, which was a Pyrrhic vic- 
tory for the redcoats. As Leonard descends the 
stairs, after seeing Lord Howe and his troops 
twice repulsed by those despised provincial 
farmers, we imagine a new look in his face — 
something coming home to him about a struggle 
that might change the whole current of his life. 
The determination of those stout-hearted farm- 
ers, standing their ground against skilled troops, 
gives warning of his impending doom. He re- 
members what he had written about raw Pro- 
vincials resisting His Majesty's Regulars. 

After nearly two years in Boston, Leonard was 
once more ousted by the aggressive Patriots, and 
now must flee the country. When the British 
position became untenable, the Leonard family 
and other Loyalists sailed out of Boston Bay 
with the King's troops, March 17, 1776, and left 
stuffed dummies on Bunker Hill, bearing in their 
fingers of hay the message, "Welcome, Brother 
Jonathan!" Leonard took his household goods 
along and planned for a protracted vacation. In 
his house in Queen Street ^ the only remaining 
articles of value found by the confiscating agents 
were a iish-kettle, set of bed posts, some curtain 
rods, and a case of empty bottles. 

The 20,000 Tories who fled from America dur- 

^ Now Court Street. 
[ 274 ] 




f* - . — • \ - 



Ih-^U^-W^^. Ill 



A Tory Absentee 

ing the Revolution contribute a notable instance 
of the unstability of mankind. The Israelites go- 
ing down into Egypt, the equinoctial migrations 
of Indians, Vandals descending on Rome, the 
Mohammedan pilgrimages to Mecca, Crusaders 
in quest of the Holy Sepulchre, Moors expelled 
from Spain, Pilgrims leaving England, Hugue- 
nots exiled from France, Napoleon's retreat from 
Moscow, dispersion of our Acadians, the Mormon 
hegira to Salt Lake City, Argonauts of '49 — to 
such historic movements of the human family 
must be added that refluent tide of exiled Tories. 
Thereafter New England was under control of the 
Whigs. The fragments of the American Tory 
party wandered in exile, became English pen- 
sioners or received grants of land in colonial sub- 
servience — some in Europe, some in Halifax, 
Canada, New Brunswick, Barbadoes, Bermuda, 
and St. Augustine.^ 

^ General Washington wrote thus to his half brother, upon 
this occasion: "All those who took upon themselves the style 
and title of Government men in Boston, in short, all those who 
have acted an unfriendly part in this great contest, have shipped 
themselves ofiF in the same hurry, but under still greater disad- 
vantage than the King's Troops, being obliged to man their 
own vessels (as seamen enough could not be had for the King's 
transports) and submit to every hardship that can be conceived. 
One or two have done what a great number ought to have done 
long ago, committed suicide. By all accounts there never was 
exhibited a more miserable set of beings than those wretched 
creatures now are." 

[ 27s 1 



Two Men of Taunton 



Paine wrote from Philadelphia after the siege 
of Boston, asking particularly about the conduct 
of the Tories, and what damage had been done 
to the town of his birth. "Tell me who of the 
Tories are left behind, how they behave, and what 
they say for themselves." Then he adds, "Have 
they carried off the lifeless carcass of the charter, 
as one of their party that was slain, or have they 
left it putrefying to contaminate the air?" 

When the royal fleet was off^ Provincetown, they 
fired salutes and separated, part of them, carrying 
the troops, turning southward for New York, and 
the remainder bearing the Loyalists, who them- 
selves made up the crews, steering eastward for 
Halifax. Among them we wave adieu to Leonard, 
wrapped in his heavy cloak against the blustering 
winds of March, as he paces the deck of the out- 
going vessel, and sees the well-loved hills of Mass- 
achusetts fade into purple shadows in the mist 
thickening to westward. Are his thoughts bitter 
against fate and his old friends and neighbors? 
Does he realize that it will be a quarter of a cen- 
tury before he sees these hills again, and that 
nevermore will he be an American citizen ? 



Chapter XVII 
The Massachusettensis Papers 

Dare to have a purpose firm. 
Dare to make it known! 

P. P. Bliss. 

WHILE Leonard was at college, the rising 
conflict between Liberty and Preroga- 
tive and their theoretical bearing upon 
life were much discussed, and the senior sophister 
had written theses on a subject which he was not 
old enough to comprehend. In 1766, as a member 
of a club of young lawyers, which included John 
Lowell, Elisha Hutchinson, Frank Dana, Josiah 
Quincy, and other college mates, he prepared ar- 
guments for and against the right of Parliament 
to tax the colonies — whether the subject could 
be taxed without his consent in person or by re- 
presentative; whether Americans should be re- 
presented in Parliament, and such problems. 
With John Adams, he had puzzled his head on 
many committees of the General Court over the 
burning questions of the day. The intellectual 
strength of the colonies was expressing itself in 
political broadsides, pamphlets, epigrams ; so these 
two young men sharpened their quills and wrote 
[ ^77 ] 



Two Men of Taunton 



for the press over assumed names (to avoid as- 
sault) at a time when newspapers were chiefly 
filled with voluntary contributions. In the discus- 
sions at the club of Boston barristers, each had 
evolved an individual style, and could express his 
thoughts with some clearness, force, and elegance. 
In 1774, therefore, they were prepared for the 
fusillade of arguments betwixt Whig and Tory. As 
human affairs turn out, it is not surprising to find 
the two comrades pitted against each other on the 
eve of the Revolution. 

When Leonard found himself confined within 
the Patriot lines at Boston, in his bitterness at 
outrageous treatment he stoutly defended his 
position in the "Massachusetts Gazette," in pap- 
ers signed "Massachusettensis." ^ These papers 
were at first attributed to Jonathan Sewall, but 
afterwards, an exiled Tory, Ward Chipman, 
acknowledged that he, a young law-student, 
copied them for Leonard in Boston during the 
siege. John Adams eventually credited them to 

^ Sewall disguised himself as "Philanthrop," and it is not 
strange to see Leonard Latinizing the name of Massachusetts. 
It was a day of pseudonyms, but not of "gentle reader," or 
"old subscriber," or "interested citizen." The classic taste 
is evidenced in such signatures as "Tacitus," "Pro Bono 
Publico," "TranquiUa," "Rusticus," "Candidus," "Solon," 
"Plain Heart," "Vox Vociferus in Eremo," "Aquilla," and 
"Amicus." Other Tory writers of Massachusetts who appeared 
under fanciful pseudonyms were Jonathan Sewall, Lt.-Governor 
Oliver, Samuel Waterhouse, Joseph Green, and John Mein. 
[278I 



The Massachusettensis Papers 

Leonard. Benjamin Hallowell, introducing Leon- 
ard to Court authorities in London, says he had 
great merit as a writer. ^ 

„ ^Diddpson, the " Westchester Farmer," had al- 
ready published Tory articles for the Middle Col- 
onies, to which young Alexander Hamilton was 
replying with spirit. In New England, good re- 
plies to "Massachusettensis" were demanded. 
John Adams, coming home from Congress, said 
of Leonard's papers, — 

" they shone like the moon among the lesser stars, 
were well written, abounded in wit, proved good in 
every way, and were conducted with a subtlety, 
art, and address, wonderfully calculated to keep up 
the spirit of the party, to spread intimidation, and 
to make proselytes among those whose principles 
and judgment gave way to their fears. As week after 
week went by, the papers made an indelible impres- 
sion on many minds. No answer appeared and I 
began to think seriously of the consequences, and 
concluded to write in reply." 

Thus "Novanglus" undertook to counteract 
"Massachusettensis," until an appeal was taken 
from the pen to the harsher court of the sword. 

* It seems remarkable that Leonard did not himself mention 
having written these papers, in his petition to the Crown for 
relief. In the Boston Public Library are listed, under Leonard's 
name, papers signed "Massachusettensis," written by a Tory 
as strictures against the administrations of Jefferson and Wash- 
ington. 

[ 279] 



Two Men of Taunton 



The papers of Adams abound in fine phrases, 
frequent quotations, illustrations, and legal cita- 
tions, and contend that Parliament has no author- 
ity over the colonies except by their consent, as 
provided in their charters. Massachusettensis 
befriends the much-abused King, upholds British 
authority to regulate the internal afltairs of the 
colonies, and maintains that there is no ground 
for constitutional resistance, since the acts of 
Parliament affect them no differently from other 
subjects within the three kingdoms.^ We may 
admit that, while the articles are a trifle pictur- 
esque and exuberant, they give evidence of high 
culture, strong feeling, good reasoning, and literary 
power, although Stephen Higginson, a Boston 
merchant, writing the "Laco Letters" in flagella- 
tion of John Hancock, says: "Hancock had not, 
in fact, any more efficiency than the pen of 
the writer under the signature of 'Massachu- 
settensis.'" There are figures of speech in these 
letters which remind one of Leonard, the boy, 
at Norton. The Whigs endeavored to gild over 
their resolves against Parliament by professions 
of loyalty to the King, but Leonard sneered — 
"The golden leaf is too thin to conceal the trea- 
son." By his acquaintance with Hutchinson and 

^ Dr. Weir Mitchell, in "Hugh Wynne," unwarrantedly 
alludes to Leonard as the "foul-mouthed pamphleteer of Mass- 
achusetts." 

[ 280 ] 



The Massachusettensis Papers 

other Royalists most learned in legislative and 
constitutional law, he had absorbed the know- 
ledge he required to write these papers. They 
spun a web of plausible argument in defence of 
the Crown, and spread alarm among the Patriots. 
Leonard, who had felt the fury of the mob, 
showed his contempt for the methods and tricks 
by which people are led into violent action. " Popu- 
lar demagogues," he says, "always call themselves 
the people, and when their own measures are 
censured, cry, 'The people, the people are abused 
and insulted.' There is a propensity in men to 
believe themselves injured and oppressed, when- 
ever they are told so." ^ 

^ An American historian thus sums up Leonard's argument: 

His great business, therefore, was to convince them that they had 
been misinformed, that they were misled; that they were rushing on- 
ward under a frightful error and delusion; that the government had not 
overstepped its limits; that though some of its recent acts may have 
been bad in policy, not one of them was unconstitutional; that these 
acts contained no menace to the political safety, dignity, or happiness 
of the American colonists; that everything of value to them in character, 
duty, property, and life itself, was involved in their speedily discovering 
their mistake, casting off the sophists and demagogues who had beguiled 
them, and becoming once more good subjects of the just and splendid 
empire within which lay all their hopes for prosperity and happiness. 
Accordingly, so distributing these various topics as to mingle history, 
anecdote, warning, sympathy, sarcasm, invective, with acute discus- 
sions of constitutional law, of equity, of the higher aspects of policy, 
he shows great skill in knocking away, or in seeming to knock away, 
piece by piece, the argumentative structure under cover of which the 
Revolutionary agitators had succeeded in drawing a loyal and a log- 
ical people into courses of action both disloyal and dangerous. That 
the authority of the Imperial Parliament is and must be coextensive 
with the empire itself; that its authority in the American colonies is not 
invalidated by the circumstance that distance from the capital renders 
it impracticable for them to send members to Parliament; that no 

[281 ] 



Two Men of Taunton 



A young man, John Trumbull, whom Leonard 
had seen while at Yale, was studying law in Bos- 
ton in the office of John Adams, where Leonard 
was often a visitor. Trumbull in "M'Fingal" 
shows keen insight into Leonard's character. 
He writes : 

Did not our Massachusettensis 

For your conviction strain his senses 

Show clear as sun in noonday heavens 
You did not feel a single grievance, 
Demonstrate all your opposition 
Sprung from the seed of foul sedition. 

This alludes to a paragraph in one of the "Massa- 
chusettensis" papers: 

I saw the small grain of sedition when it was 
planted ; it was as a grain of mustard. I have watched 
the plant until it has become a giant tree; the vilest 

recent assertion of the taxing power of Parliament is new — is, in fact, 
anything but what has been peacefully exercised and safely granted 
from the beginning; that such taxation is contained in the very terms 
of the original settlement of the colonies; that in the doctrine of the 
supremacy of Parliament, according to the British constitution, is 
wrapped up our priceless claim to all the great rights and privileges of 
British subjects under that constitution — the rejection of the former 
carrying with it the destruction of the latter; that no American peti- 
tions to the Imperial Government have ever yet been rejected, except- 
ing such as were so framed as to compel their rejection on the part of 
any government that had the least respect either for the constitution or 
for itself; that what are called American grievances are largely imagin- 
ary, — are charges trumped up by demagogues and conspirators as their 
stock in trade while fattening upon the generous confidence of a people, 
noble-minded but misinformed, and rushing toward misery and ruin, 
— such are the matters principally dealt with by this consummate 
debater. 

[ 282 ] 



The Massachusettensis Papers 

reptiles that crawl upon the earth are concealed at 
the root, the foulest birds of the air rest on its 
branches, I never would induce you to go to work 
and cut it down, for twofold reasons; because it is 
a pest to society and lest it be felled suddenly by 
a stronger arm and crush its thousands in its fall. 

Between November, 1774, ^^d April, 1775, 
seventeen of Leonard's letters were published in 
several editions, on both sides of the ocean, as the 
best Tory argument written in America.^ They 
were the final desperate effort of the New England 
Tories to write down the Revolution. Like Paine's 
argument on the Boston Massacre, they seem too 
heavy and academic to be read much now ex- 
cept by the student engaged in special research, for 
whose benefit the first of the papers is given in full. 

A LETTER 

Addressed 

To the Inhabitants of the Province of Massachusetts 
Bay J December 12, 1774 

My dear countrymen, 

When a people, by what means soever, are re- 
duced to such a situation, that every thing they 

* An edition published at London in 1776 was advertised as 
"a series of letters containing a faithful state of many important 
and striking facts which laid the foundations of the present 
troubles in the Province of Massachusetts Bay. By a person 
of honor on the spot." 

[283] 



Two Men of Taunton 



hold dear, as men and citizens, is at stake, it is not 
only excuseable, but even praiseworthy for an in- 
dividual to offer to the public any thing that he may 
think has a tendency to ward off the impending 
danger; nor should he be restrained from an appre- 
hension that what he may offer will be unpopular, 
any more than a physician should be restrained from 
prescribing a salutary medicine, through fear it 
might be unpalatable to his patient. 

The press, when open to all parties and influenced 
by none, is a salutary engine in a free state, perhaps 
a necessary one to preserve the freedom of that state; 
but, when a party has gained the ascendancy so far 
as to become the licensers of the press, either by an 
act of government, or by playing off the resentment 
of the populace against printers and authors, the 
press itself becomes an engine of oppression or li- 
centiousness, and is as pernicious to society, as other- 
wise it would be beneficial. It is too true to be denied, 
that ever since the origin of our controversy with 
Great Britain the press, in this town, has been much 
devoted to the partizans of liberty; they have been 
indulged in publishing what they pleased, fas vel 
nefas, while little has been published on the part 
of Government. The effect this must have had 
upon the minds of the people in general is obvious; 
they must have formed their opinion upon a partial 
view of the subject, and of course it must have been 
in some degree erroneous. In short, the changes 
have been rung so often upon oppression, tyranny, 
and slavery, that, whether sleeping or waking, they 

[284] 



The Massachusettensis Papers 

are continually vibrating In our ears; and It Is now 
high time to ask ourselves, whether we have not 
been deluded by sound only. 

My dear countrymen, let us divest ourselves of 
prejudice, take a view of our present wretched situa- 
tion, contrast it with our former happy one, care- 
fully Investigate the cause, and Industriously seek 
some means to escape the evils we now feel, and 
prevent those that we have reason to expect. 

We have been so long advancing to our present 
state, and by such graduations, that perhaps many 
of us are insensible of our true state and real danger. 
Should you be told that acts of high treason are 
flagrant through the country, that a great part of 
the province Is in actual rebellion, would you believe 
It true? Should you not deem the person asserting 
It, an enemy to the province.'' Nay, should you not 
spurn him from you with Indignation.'' Be calm, 
my friends; it is necessary to know the worst of a 
disease, to enable us to provide an effectual remedy. 
Are not the bands of society cut asunder, and the 
sanctions that hold man to man, trampled upon.f* 
Can any of us recover a debt, or obtain compensation 
for an Injury, by law.'' Are not many persons, whom 
once we respected and revered, driven from their 
homes and families and forced to fly to the army for 
protection, for no other reason but their having ac- 
cepted commissions under our King? Is not civil 
government dissolved.'' Some have been made to 
believe that nothing short of attempting the life of 
the King, or fighting his troops, can amount to high 

[285] 



Two Men of Taunton 



treason or rebellion. If, reader, you are one of those, 
apply to an honest lawyer (If such an one can be 
found) and enquire what kind of offence it is for a 
number of men to assemble armed, and forcibly 
to obstruct the course of justice, even to prevent 
the King's courts from being held at their stated 
terms ; for a body of people to seize upon the King's 
provincial revenue; I mean the monies collected by 
virtue of grants made by the General Court to his 
Majesty for the support of his government, within 
this province; for a body of men to assemble without 
being called by authority, and to pass governmental 
acts; or for a number of people to take the militia 
out of the hands of the King's representative, or to 
form a new militia, or to raise men and appoint of- 
ficers for a public purpose, without the order or per- 
mission of the King, or his representative; or for 
a number of men to take to their arms, and march 
with a professed design of opposing the king's troops ; 
ask, reader, of such a lawyer, what is the crime, and 
what the punishment; and if, perchance, thou art 
one that hast been active in these things, and art 
not insensibility itself, his answer will harrow up thy 
soul. 

I assure you, my friends, I would not that this 
conduct should be told beyond the borders of this 
province; I wish it were consigned to perpetual ob- 
livion; but alas, it is too notorious to be concealed; 
our newspapers have already published it to the 
world ; we can neither prevent nor conceal it. The 
shaft is already sped, and the utmost exertion is 

[ 286 ] 



The Massachusettensis Papers 

necessary to prevent the blow. We already feel the 
effects of anarchy; mutual confidence, affection, 
and tranquillity, those sweeteners of human life, 
are succeeded by distrust, hatred, and wild uproar; 
the useful arts of agriculture and commerce are 
neglected for caballing, mobbing this or the other 
man, because he acts, speaks, or is suspected of 
thinking different from the prevailing sentiment of 
the times, in purchasing arms, and forming a militia; 
O height of madness! with a professed design of op- 
posing Great Britain. I suspect many of us have 
been induced to join in these measures, or but faintly 
to oppose them, from an apprehension that Great 
Britain would not, or could not exert herself suf- 
ficiently to subdue America. Let us consider this 
matter. However closely we may hug ourselves 
in the opinion, that the Parliament has no right to 
tax or legislate for us, the people of England hold 
the contrary opinion as firmly. They tell us we are 
a part of the British Empire; that every state, from 
the nature of government, must have a supreme, 
uncontrollable power, coextensive with the empire 
itself; and that that power is vested in Parliament. 
It is as unpopular to deny this doctrine in Great 
Britain, as it is to assert it in the colonies; so there 
is but little probability of serving ourselves at this 
day by our ingenious distinctions between a right 
of legislation for one purpose, and not for another. 
We have bid them defiance; and the longest sword 
must carry it, unless we change our measures. Man- 
kind are the same, in all parts of the world. The 

[287] 



Two Men of Taunton 



same fondness for dominion that presides in the 
breast of an American, actuates the breast of an 
European. If the colonies are not a part of the 
British Empire already, and subject to the su- 
preme authority of the state, Great Britain will 
make them so. Had we been prudent enough to 
confine our opposition within certain limits, we 
might have stood some chance of succeeding once 
more; but alas, we have passed the Rubicon. It 
is now universally said and believed, in England, 
that if this opportunity of reclaiming the colonies, 
and reducing them to a sense of their duty, is lost, 
they, in truth, will be dismembered from the em- 
pire, and become as distinct a state from Great 
Britain, as Hanover; that is, although they may 
continue their allegiance to the person of the King, 
they will own none to the imperial crown of Great 
Britain, nor yield obedience to any of her laws, but 
each as they shall think proper to adopt. Can you 
indulge the thought one moment, that Great Britain 
will consent to this } For what has she protected and 
defended the colonies against the maritime powers 
of Europe, from their first British settlement to this 
day.? For what did she purchase New York of the 
Dutch f For what was she so lavish of her best blood 
and treasure in the conquest of Canada, and other 
territories in America.'' Was it to raise up a rival 
state, or to enlarge her own empire f Or if the con- 
sideration of empire was out of the question, what 
security can she have of our trade, when once she 
has lost our obedience? I mention these things, my 

[ 288 ] 



The Massachusettensis Papers 

friends, that you may know how people reason upon 
the subject in England; and to convince you that 
you are much deceived, if you imagine that Great 
Britain will accede to the claims of the colonies; she 
will as soon conquer New England, as Ireland or 
Canada, if either of them revolted; and by arms, if 
the milder influences of Government prove ineffect- 
ual. Perhaps you are as fatally mistaken in another 
respect, I mean, as to the power of Great Britain to 
conquer. But can any of you, that think soberly 
upon the matter, be so deluded as to believe that 
Great Britain, who so lately carried her arms with 
success to every part of the globe, triumphed over 
the united powers of France and Spain, and whose 
fleets give law to the ocean, is unable to conquer us? 
Should the colonies unite in a war against Great 
Britain (which, by the way, is not a supposable 
case), the colonies south of Pennsylvania would be 
unable to furnish any men; they have not more than 
Is necessary to govern their numerous slaves, and to 
defend themselves against the Indians. I will sup- 
pose that the northern colonies can furnish as many, 
and indeed more men than can be used to advantage; 
but have you arms fit for a campaign? If you have 
arms, have you military stores, or can you procure 
them? When this war is proclaimed, all supplies 
from foreign parts will be cut oif. Have you money 
to maintain the war? Or had you all those things, 
some others are still wanting, which are absolutely 
necessary to encounter regular troops, that is dis- 
cipline, and that subordination whereby each can 

[ 289 ] 



Two Men of Taunton 



command all below him, from a general officer to the 
lowest subaltern; these you neither have nor can 
have in such a war. It is well known that the Pro- 
vincials in the late war were never brought to a 
proper discipline, though they had the example of 
the regular troops to encourage, and the martial 
law to enforce it. We all know, notwithstanding the 
province law for regulating the militia, it was under 
little more command than what the officers could 
obtain from treating and humouring the common 
soldiers; what, then, can be expected from such an 
army as you will bring into the field, if you bring 
any, each one a politician, puffed up with his own 
opinion, and feeling himself second to none ? Can any 
of you command ten thousand such men ? Can you 
punish the disobedient.^ Can all your wisdom direct 
their strength, courage, or activity to any given 
point.'' Would not the least disappointment or un- 
favourable aspect cause a general dereliction of the 
service.^ Your new-fangled militia have already 
given us a specimen of their future conduct. In some 
of their companies, they have already chosen two, 
in others, three sets of officers, and are as dissatis- 
fied with the last choice as the first. I do not doubt 
the natural bravery of my countrymen; all men 
would act the same part in the same situation. Such 
is the army with which you are to oppose the most 
powerful nation upon the globe. An experienced 
officer would rather take his chance with five thou- 
sand British troops, than with fifty thousand such 
militia. 



[ 290 ] 



The Massachusettensis Papers 

I have hitherto confined my observations to the 
war within the interior parts of the colonies, let us 
now turn our eyes to our extensive seacoast, and 
that we find wholly at the mercy of Great Britain; 
our trade, fishery, navigation, and maritime towns 
taken from us the very day that war is proclaimed : 
Inconceivably shocking the scene; if we turn our 
views to the wilderness, our back settlements a 
prey to our ancient enemy, the Canadians, whose 
wounds received from us in the late war, will bleed 
afresh at the prospect of revenge, and to the numer- 
ous tribes of savages, whose tender mercies are 
cruelties. Thus with the British army in the front, 
Canadians and savages in the rear, a regular army 
in the midst, we must be certain that whenever 
the sword of civil war is unsheathed, devastation 
will pass through our land like a whirlwind; our 
houses be burnt to ashes; our fair possessions laid 
waste; and he that falls by the sword, will be happy 
in escaping a more ignominious death, 

I have hitherto gone upon a supposition, that 
all the colonies from Nova Scotia to Georgia, would 
unite in the war against Great Britain; but I believe, 
if we consider coolly upon the matter, we shall find 
no reason to expect any assistance out of New Eng- 
land; if so, there will be no arm stretched out to 
save us. New England, or perhaps this self-devoted 
province alone, will fall the unpitied victim of its 
own folly, and furnish the world with one more in- 
stance of the fatal consequences of rebellion. 

I have as yet said nothing of the diiference in sen- 

[ 291 ] 



Two Men of Taunton 



timent among themselves. Upon a superficial view 
we might imagine that this province was nearly 
unanimous; but the case is far different. A very 
considerable part of the men of property in this 
province, are at this day firmly attached to the cause 
of Government; bodies of men, compelling persons 
to disavow their sentiments, to resign commissions, 
or to subscribe leagues and covenants, have wrought 
no change in their sentiments; it has only attached 
them more closely to Government, and caused them 
to wish more fervently, and to pray more devoutly, 
for its restoration. These, and thousands beside, if 
they fight at all, will fight under the banners of 
loyalty. I can assure you that associations are now 
forming in several parts of this province, for the sup- 
port of his Majesty's Government and mutual de- 
fence; and let me tell you, whenever the royal stand- 
ard shall be set up, there will be such a flocking to 
it, as will astonish the most obdurate. And now, in 
God's name, what is it that has brought us to this 
brink of destruction."* Has not the Government of 
Great Britain been as mild and equitable in the 
colonies, as in any part of her extensive dominions .'* 
Has not she been a nursing mother to us, from the 
days of our infancy to this time."* Has she not been 
indulgent almost to a fault.? Might not each one of 
us at this day have sat quietly under his own vine 
and fig-tree, and there have been none to make us 
afraid, were it not for our own folly .i* Will not pos- 
terity be amazed, when they are told that the pre- 
sent distraction took its rise from a threepenny duty 

[ 292 ] 



The Massachusettensis Papers 

on tea, and call it a more unaccountable frenzy, 
and more disgraceful to the annals of America, than 
that of the witchcraft? 

I will attempt in the next paper to retrace the 
steps and mark the progressions that led us to this 
state. I promise to do it with fidelity; and if any 
thing should look like reflecting on individuals or 
bodies of men, it must be set down to my impar- 
tiality, and not to a fondness for censuring. 

Massachusettensis. 



Chapter XVIII 
Taunton during the Revolution 

'T was autumn, bright autumn, and glimmered the weir, 

The Taunton flowed full on that beautiful day. 
And kirtled wives gathered the flag-pole anear, 

'Mid the old men at prayer and the children at play. 
They saw the red flag in blue Liberty's dome 

Wave o'er the valley, Equality's home. 
And they heard the men say, while their own lips were dumb, 
"We'll defend with our valor and virtue and votes 
The red flag of Taunton 
That waves o'er the Green." 

BUTTERWORTH. 

/IT the outbreak of the Revolution, Taun- 
AA ton was a nest of rebels. A letter written 
-^ -^ in August, 1774, says of her Sons of Lib- 
erty: 

They seem to be quite awake, and to have awoke 
in a passion. It is more dangerous being a Tory here, 
than in Boston, even if no troops were there. 

The soil from which bricks, pottery and iron im- 
plements were fashioned, the coastwise shipping, 
the forests, the tanneries and the fact of its being 
the county seat, had combined to create a centre 
of some wealth and prominence. Taunton was 
relatively of greater importance than to-day. Its 
people were farmers, sailors, tradesmen, laborers, 
with a leisure class so limited as to be conspicuous. 
[ 294 ] 



Taunton during the Revolution 

Before the Revolution, men came through thick 
mud to the town meeting in March, and gave 
vent to their patriotic zeal in stormy harangues. 
On High Court days, Taunton was a Mecca 
for the neighboring rustics who, if matters went 
against their grain, came cursing, shaking their 
fists, and shouting incendiary language.^ The 
court was sometimes obliged to sit in the tavern, 
because the populace packed the court-room so 
full the judges could not enter. Excuses given for 
their conduct were: that fees and court charges 
were extortionate; that the commissions ran in the 
name of the King; that extremely obnoxious per- 
sons had been appointed to oifice, and so on. The 
Whig might appeal in vain to a tribunal that 
owed its existence to the Tory power. Abigail 
Adams wrote to John at Philadelphia, September, 
1774: 

I saw a letter from Eunice Paine wherein she gives 
an account of the breaking up of court last week in 
Taunton. Angier urged the court's opening and 
calling up the actions, but could not effect it, and 
she says there were two thousand men assembled 
around the court-house, sent by a committee of 
nine, who presented a petition requesting that they 
would not sit. 

^ A ringleader of these rebels was "Nat" Leonard, who ac- 
quired sufficient experience as mob-leader to secure an import- 
ant command in the Patriot army. 

[ 295 ] 



Two Men of Taunton 



In harrying out of their territory the offensive 
Loyalists, the Taunton Sons of Liberty directed 
particular vengeance against Colonel Gilbert of 
Freetown as herebefore stated. Assembling at 
Weir Bridge one autumn morning they waited on 
him to request that he decline the office of High 
Sheriff, warning him that if he did not, he must 
abide the consequences. 

In September, 1774, a convention was held in 
Taunton of delegates from Berkeley, Dartmouth, 
Dighton, Easton, Mansfield, Norton, Raynham, 
Swanzea, and Taunton. Zephaniah Leonard was 
chosen chairman, and the celebrated Bristol 
County Resolves were drafted, akin in tone to the 
earlier Suffolk Resolves, expressing allegiance to 
the King, but demanding political rights. The 
Preamble reads: 

Whereas, our ancestors, of blessed memory, from 
a prudent care of themselves, and a tender concern 
for their descendants, did, through a series of un- 
paralleled dangers and distresses, purchase a valu- 
able inheritance in this western world, and carefully 
transmitted the same to us their posterity; and 
whereas for many years past, we have quietly en- 
joyed certain rights and privileges, stipulated by 
charter, and repeatedly confirmed by royal engage- 
ments; which rights and privileges are now un- 
justly invaded by the pretended authority of a British 
Parliament, under pretext that it is inexpedient 

[296] 



Taunton during the Revolution 

for us any longer to enjoy them; and as the same per- 
sons which found out the inexpediency, will no 
doubt, in time, discover that it is inexpedient for us 
to enjoy any rights, and even any property at all; 
we cannot in justice to ourselves and posterity, and 
in gratitude to our reverend ancestors, tamely 
stand by and suffer everything that is valuable and 
dear to be wrested from us; but are resolutely deter- 
mined, at the risque of our fortunes and lives, to 
defend our natural and compacted rights, and to 
oppose to our utmost all illegal and unconstitu- 
tional measures, which have been or may be here- 
after adopted by a British parliament, or a British 
ministry. And though we deprecate the evils which 
are naturally consequent upon a breach of that 
mutual affection and confidence which has sub- 
sisted betwixt Great Britain and her colonies; yet 
we think it better to suffer those evils than volun- 
tarily submit to perpetual slavery. We are sensible 
that the important crisis before us demands the 
exercise of much wisdom, prudence, and fortitude, 
and we sincerely hope that all our deliberation and 
actions will be guided by the principles of sound rea- 
son, and a hearty desire to promote the true interest 
of the British empire. 

In October, a Liberty Pole was erected on Taun- 
ton Green, flying a red flag bearing the words 
LIBERTY AND UNION! UNION AND LIB- 
ERTY! The Taunton women were not behind 
their husbands in zeal for the principles expressed 
[ 297 ] 



Two Men ot Taunton 



upon the banner which, made with their own 
hands, now fluttered in the breeze. While Tory 
lawyers and ministers were summarily dealt with 
by the Patriots, the Tory doctors were generally 
treated more leniently. But when Dr. McKinstry 
was compelled to seek safety in Boston, his wife 
(a Leonard, cousin of Daniel) remained at home, 
and took no pains to conceal her contempt for 
the Patriots. Her neighbors endured her scorn for 
a while; then, one morning, these women of the 
New England Taunton, jealous because Mistress 
McKinstry was still enjoying her afternoon tea, 
proceeded to her house on High Street (as the 
women marched in Old English Taunton dur- 
ing Monmouth's Rebellion), dragged her from her 
fireside, marched her down to the Green, and 
around the Liberty Pole in humiliating token of 
allegiance. 

In November, when Paine returned from Con- 
gress as chairman of the Committee on Gun- 
powder, he turned his attention and that of his 
wife's family to the making of saltpetre, leaching 
the mouldy earth found under old buildings for 
potash, lye, and sulphur. 

The Conmiittee of Correspondence and Safety 
was active, and (February 20, 1775) George God- 
frey wrote that "three companies of minute- 
men" were in readiness; indicating the alacrity 
to follow the suggestions from Concord, where 
[298] 



Taunton during the Revolution 

Paine and Cobb were doing duty as members of 
the Provincial Congress. These minute-men were 
too far away to fight at Concord, but the next 
day were found among the gathering forces at 
Roxbury, dust-stained and footsore, under com- 
mand of Captain James Williams. 

Taunton Green was the campus martins. In ear- 
lier days, Indian captives were displayed here. 
The corseleted Standish and his followers had 
crossed it, as well as Captain Church, another In- 
dian fighter. Soldiers on the Louisburg expedition 
trained upon it. General Sullivan stopped here 
with his troops on the way to his disastrous cam- 
paign in Rhode Island in 1778. Soldiers left here 
not only on April 19, 1775, but again, as many 
remember, on April 19, 1861. Captain Silas 
Shepard's troops departed hence for the defence 
of New Bedford during the War of 1 812. The sod 
has throbbed to the tread of trainbands marching 
at muster for two hundred years. Once a year 
still the militia manoeuvre upon the Green to pre- 
serve their perpetual right therein. 

July 3, 1775, a Committee of Inspection, Safety, 
and Correspondence was chosen at town meeting. 
Nicholas Baylies, Colonel George Williams, and 
Captain John Reed were appointed to take charge 
of the estate and effects of Daniel Leonard, while 
some of their neighbors found occupation in 
picking over the financial remains of other de- 
[ 299 ] 



Two Men of Taunton 



parted fellow-townsmen. Seth Padelford, one 
of many creditors, whom Daniel Leonard in- 
structed in the law and whose note for £8i Padel- 
ford held, was appointed agent July 27, 1777; he 
found Leonard's personal estate to realize £156 
6s. id., or, reduced to silver, £68 45, ii^d. The 
list of Leonard's creditors (some of whom he 
claimed were imaginary) included nearly every 
person in Taunton who had a spare pound. 

The ravenous Whigs, debt-loaded and intoxi- 
cated by success, felt the power of numbers. 
Having little fear of punishment, a few gave loose 
rein to their passions and resorted to malice and 
violence. They held Loyalist property as free 
booty. Few dared to defend an absentee. By the 
practice of the court, when there was no appear- 
ance of a defendant he was defaulted and judg- 
ment entered without a jury of inquiry. On a 
general declaration for goods sold, labor per- 
formed, services rendered, or for money loaned, 
no evidence was required, not even the oath of the 
plaintiif . Within two years the defendant might 
bring writ and service for a new trial. 

The court, upon recommendation, November, 
1782, of a committee consisting of James Wil- 
liams, Josiah Crocker, and Apollos Leonard, 
allowed claims against Leonard by Charles 
Durfee, John Tuck, Thomas Barstow, Mahitable 
Emett, William Baylies, David Cobb, Elijah 
[ 300 ] 




o 

b 
o 
y !S -^ 



Taunton during the Revolution 

Dean, McWharter & Stevenson, Abijah Hodges, 
Susan Smith, Edward Winslow, Levi White, 
Ebenezer Sever, the County of Bristol, Abiathar 
Leonard, Dr. McKinstry's estate, Tabitha Briggs, 
Josiah Quincy, William Browne, Prudence White, 
Colonel George Leonard, William Baylies, Guard- 
ian Nancy Leonard, and Estate of Col. White. 

Daniel Leonard acknowledged debts of £278 
I IS. 8 %d. His property was sold when the British 
troops were victorious and the future value of land 
seemed small. In final adjustment the Leonard 
estate yielded, according to the report of July 5, 
1783, at the rate of 2s. 6d. if. to the pound. 
May 16, 1783, George Godfrey and others, ap- 
pointed to sell the property, had paid into the 
treasury the total sum of £3266. 

As an inland town, Taunton was a Bethel of 
refuge for alarmed citizens of Boston and New- 
port. The refugees escaped the actual terrors 
of war along the seaports, but did not find them- 
selves beyond the sound of hostilities. A man in 
Norton, putting his ear to a fence-rail, protested, 
in spite of scoffing skeptics, that he felt the vibra- 
tion of cannonading at Bunker Hill; an old lady 
in Berkeley, some forty years afterward, declared 
that her china was shaken off the shelves during 
this battle, and she produced the cups, broken 
and cracked, to corroborate her story. Dr. Ezra 
Stiles, who came up to Dighton, records that he 
[ 301 1 



Two Men of Taunton 



plainly heard the sound of cannon at the siege 
of Boston, and at the battle of Long Island. 

When the war broke out, the English held New- 
port, and a large number of timorous souls, largely 
women and children, came from there to Taunton 
for safety. The population of the town was some- 
thing over four thousand. These people were a 
homogeneous race — from the south of England, 
interspersed with few foreigners, save some four 
hundred negroes, imported from Africa, and an 
occasional lingering red man, a few deported Irish 
convicts, a vagrant Dutchman, Frenchman, or 
wandering Jew. In this year 19C9, we may ride 
in a trolley car with Scotch conductor and Irish 
motorman, sitting between an Englishman and 
a Spaniard; go to a French-Canadian barber's; 
send laundry to a Chinaman; have a colored 
maid to wait on the door; a Swede in the kitchen; 
a Portuguese in the stable; an Italian selling fruit; 
a Greek to shine shoes; Poles and Hungarians 
digging in the streets; a German conducting a 
bakery; a Filipino restaurateur; a South African 
calling for "junk"; a Russian Jew for alderman. 
This Babel of tongues forces home the fact that 
Taunton is becoming a polyglot cauldron of na- 
tionalities as diversified as the witches' broth in 
"Macbeth." 

The influx of Newporters is evident in the necro- 
logy, kept by Deacon George Godfrey. From 
[ 302 ] 



Taunton during the Revolution 

these brief records, imagination readily constructs 
a homely picture of the life here with its varied hu- 
man touches, and some of its local "characters." 

Negor man of Daniel Leonard, Esq., died Febru- 
ary, 1775. 

Old Granney Macomber died 3d day of April, 1775. 

John Cobb kill'd with thunder July 11, 1775. 
AUmost all ye Rest of ye family struck down. 

Old William Simmons of Swanzey died in Taun- 
ton with drunkeness August, 1775. 

Old Hope Tripe, Indian woman, died 19 May, 
1776.1 

Rev. Caleb Barnum Died as soposed August 22d 
day at Pittsfield, 1776. 

Olde Deacon Brown of Newport Died August, 
1777. 

The wife of Mr. Barron from Newport died 1777. 

The wife of Mr. Earle of Newport died Novem- 
ber 27, 1777. 

The daughter of Mr. A of Newport died 

November 27, 1777. 

The negor Gerle of Abiel Smith drowned Decem- 
ber 17, 1777. 

^ This Indian squaw, Hope Tripe, was probably the one who 
came to dinner at the Lincoln home one day, and, finding they 
were to have tripe for dinner, asked if she might cook it. They 
permitted her to do so, and as it sizzled in the skillet, the im- 
patient woman found her mouth watering so that she could not 
wait until it was cooked, but began to eat it; by the time it 
should have been ready to serve, she had eaten the whole of it, 
which gave her that succulent name. 

[ 303 ] 



Two Men of Taunton 



A poor Continental soldier named Bunn died at 
Lieut. Wm. Thayer's June, 1778. 

Elizabeth Waldron from Newport died August, 
1778.^ 

Childe of Wm. Thurston from Newport died 
December 7, 1780. 

The childe of Capt. Bently from Newport died 
some time this year. 

Old Polorck the Jew died November, 1782, sud- 
denly. 

A certain Indian Squaw named Abigail Maboine 
died with drunkenness as supposed August 18 or 17, 
1780. 

Old Mr. Makepeace the oyster catcher died May 
27, 1783. 

Old Cuff Cobb, Late Negor of Thomas Cobb, Esq., 
June, 1784. 

The negor woman formerly at Dr. McKinstry's 
died 1783. 

Poor Anthony Fry drowned, soposed fell oflF Neck 
o' Land bridge, 1780. 

The child of Beny Richmond he had of Betty 
Sole died Octob'r 14, 1782. 

The women who gathered to make linsey- 
woolsey shirts and knit stockings for the soldiery 
did not lack for topics as they patriotically brewed 
their " liberty tea " of raspberry leaves. The town 
was alarmed in 1778, by smallpox ravages, re- 
quiring the erection of a pest hospital at Prospect 
Hill. Dr. Cobb writes that one hundred and fifty 

[ 304] 



Taunton during the Revolution 

died that year of the disease. At the sound of 
the town-crier's bell the knitters paused to listen 
for news of the fortunes of war. Letters from 
Taunton's distinguished citizens, in field and 
forum, were awaited with eagerness, and brought 
a thrill of elation when the news was of a victory. 
General Godfrey and General Cobb were in the 
army, while Paine was in Congress. From neigh- 
boring precincts came General Baylies of Dighton, 
one of Washington's fighting family, and Toby 
Gilmore of Raynham, a faithful body servant who 
polished the boots of the commander-in-chief.^ 

Mrs. Paine dwelt upon the visit of the great 
Benjamin Franklin in November, 1775, when he 
stopped to inquire if he could serve as post-rider, 
to carry letters to her husband. A day or two 
later she wrote: 

Taunton, November 10, 1775. 

I had the happiness of seeing Doctor Franklin on 
his return to Philadelphia. He was so kind as to call 
at our house for letters or anything else that I wanted 

^ At the close of the war, the General gave Toby a small field- 
piece. "Old Toby," as this gun was called, was accustomed for 
many years to "speak a piece" in the early morning on the 
Fourth of July. Toby was a slave kidnapped on the shore of 
Africa at the age of sixteen. He was bought and brought up 
by Captain Gilmore, of Raynham, and offered to take the place 
of the Captain who was drafted for the war. Through the in- 
fluence of David Cobb, he was appointed a body-servant to 
Washington. 

[ 305 ] 



Two Men of Taunton 



to send you. He made but a short stay with us and 
we would have been glad for more of his company. 
There are a great many families moved to this town 
from Newport and Bristol. The Cobbs are making 
salt peter. 

June 5, 1776, at town meeting, the citizens voted 
to pledge lives and fortunes if Independence 
should be declared. One day in the summer of 
1778, a red-headed youth on a white horse dashed 
into town, took a hurried lunch at the tavern, and 
sped on to the northward. It was Lafayette, on 
his famous seven-hour ride from Portsmouth, 
Rhode Island, to Boston. Another visit of noto- 
riety in that same year was by an adventurous 
Rosalind, attired in male apparel belonging to 
Samuel Leonard of Middleboro, in which dis- 
guise she enlisted for the war as a soldier boy.^ 
The coming of General Sullivan's troops into town 
in August, 1778, was an exciting event. General 
Cobb followed him and under his command per- 
formed distinguished services in Rhode Island. 

Dr. Ezra Stiles, the minister of Newport, driven 
inland to Dighton, occasionally occupied the 
Taunton pulpit, wearing a full-bottomed wig. A 
delightful character, he was urged to settle here; 
but about this time another call came, to the 
presidency of Yale College, and, much as he liked 

^ Deborah Sampson. Leonard was so offended by the un- 
sexing of his garments that he contemptuously burned them. 

[306] 



Taunton during the Revolution 

the Taunton people, he chose New Haven. Caleb 
Barnum, a six-footer in a long wig, showed his 
patriotism by leaving the pulpit to march away 
as chaplain (with his body-slave, Darius), only 
to die of camp fever the following year. After 
Barnum's departure, the candidating for a new 
minister resulted in the choice of Ephraim Judson, 
who pleased the youngsters of the congregation 
by preaching seated in a chair (some said from 
laziness). During the sweltering days of summer, 
he would give out the longest psalm, leave his 
pulpit, and stretch himself under a tree — pos- 
sibly not so much to escape the heat as the sing- 
ing of the congregation, who sometimes held the 
last note so long as to catch their breath once or 
twice. The ladies raised such a cry of indignation 
and threat of boycott because Nathaniel Bird 
refused to accept "Continental Currency" in 
payment for dry goods that the shop-keeper pub- 
licly confessed his wrongdoing. During the siege of 
Boston, a shipload of British soldiers, taken from 
a stranded vessel at Nantasket, was quartered at 
Taunton under guard, arousing curiosity among 
the gentler sex. Several were employed in the 
Adams factory, where they gave instmction in 
English nail-making. 

One of the last American celebrations of Guy 
Fawkes's Day was held in Taunton. In accord- 
ance with the English custom, fantastically 
[ 307 ] 



Two Men of Taunton 



masked men carried in procession, with a dark 
lantern and matches, a "dummy" representing 
Guy Fawkes, which was finally burned in a bon- 
fire. During the French wars the Pope was sub- 
stituted for Fawkes, and finally, on the eve of the 
Revolution, King George himself; as his adherents 
were similarly treated, a scarecrow figure of Daniel 
Leonard, the hete noir of Taunton, was probably 
dragged through the streets and cast into the 
flames upon the Green. ^ 

While the hated Tory was being burned in effigy 
and his quondam friend was deep in councils of 
state, Mrs. Paine or Eunice might be seen, in mob- 
cap and morning gown pottering in the kitchen 
garden, the contents of which we know from this 
inventory made by Mr. Paine in 1775 : 

Spinage Marble Pease 

Peper Grass Pole Beans 

Lima Beans (own growth) Amaranthus 

Radish (own growth) Bell Vines 

^ Samuel Brack, of Philadelphia, who stopped here awaiting 
the end of the siege of Boston, leaves this record in his diary: 

We stayed a few months in Philadelphia (after the 19th of April; 
1775), and then returned to Taunton, in Massachusetts, in order to be 
ready to enter Boston as soon as the British should evacuate the town. 
It was here at Taunton that I distinctly recollect seeing the procession 
of the Pope and the Devil on the 5th of November (1775), the anniver- 
sary of the Gunpowder Plot. Effigies of these two illustrious personages 
were dragged around the Common, and this was perhaps the last ex- 
hibition of the kind in our country. Sentiments of great liberality and 
toleration have contributed to abolish the custom heretofore annual, 
and to root out all violent prejudices against the good Bishop of Rome 
and the Church which he governs. 

[308] 



Taunton during the Revolution 

Dutch Turnip Mandrake 

Parsley Virginia pumpion 

Sweet Marjoran French Marygold 

Dwarf Pease (not good) Pink 

Common Lettuce Winter Cabbage 

Musk Melon Crown Pease 

Thyme Cucumbers 

Marrowfats (most a pint) Carrot Seed 

Corn Turnip Seed 

Celery Sugar Pease 

Beets Honeysuckle 

Bertram, the naturalist of Philadelphia, gave 
Paine a root of tantoxilium for his garden. 

Aunt Eunice kept house with Mrs. Paine and 
helped to care for the children, who could roll their 
hoops round the bare, lopsided pasture, now the 
Green, without running into iron fences or being 
reprimanded by blue-coated policemen, or could 
fly kites with no danger of leaving them in the 
tree-tops, a frazzled reminder of childhood's sor- 
row. On pleasant afternoons. Madam Paine could 
put on her calash and drive her chaise to Attle- 
boro to call upon former neighbors. The rejoicing, 
when the long strain of warfare was over, is in- 
timated in this letter from General Cobb to Squire 
Paine after the surrender of Cornwallis : 

Head-Quarters, near York, Virginia, 
Oct. 28, 1 78 1. 

My Dear Sir, — My not writing you hereto- 
fore has not been owing to a want of an affectionate 

[ 309 ] 



Two Men ot Taunton 



remembrance of you and your family, but of a proper 
opportunity and a certain mode of conveyance. 

You must be informed before this of the interest- 
ing event that has taken place in this quarter, which 
I should have informed you of at the time, but the 
despatches for Congress were sent so suddenly that 
I had only a moment just to inform Governor 
Hancock: As Lord Cornwallis surrendered at least 
seven days sooner than we expected, I will give you 
some of the particulars of our operations: on the 
8th inst., after great exertions and fatigue in bring- 
ing up our heavy artillery and stores, we opened our 
first batteries upon his lordship; these required 
finishing; and putting our first parallel in a proper 
state of defence detained us till the evening of the 
14th, when two of the enemy's advanced redoubts, 
through which we intended running our second 
parallel, were stormed and carried, and our second 
parallel, together with all its communications, was 
completed by morning. Most of the two following 
days were employed in erecting batteries on our 
advanced parallel; soon after they were completed, 
and we had opened sixty pieces of artillery, his lord- 
ship, on the morning of the 17th, sent a flag, which 
was the first that had passed, with proposals for 
the surrendering of the posts of York and Gloucester. 
Hostilities ceased. After an interchange of flags, by 
which the principles of the surrender were explained, 
commissioners were appointed on the i8th to settle 
the articles, and on the 19th, at two o'clock p.m., 
the British army marched out and grounded their 

[ 310] 



Taunton during the Revolution 

arms, — most joyful day! Most of the officers are 
paroled for Europe, and their troops marched, three 
days after their captivity, for their lodgment at 
Winchester, in this State. The British army, in- 
cluding officers, is above seven thousand, and a thou- 
sand naval prisoners. We have taken two thousand 
suits of clothes, seventy-five pieces of brass artillery, 
and a hundred and forty-one iron, together with a 
quantity of powder and other military stores, — not 
forgetting the military chest, with two thousand 
pounds sterling in it, and nine thousand stands of 
arms, — about sixty sail of vessels, including a 
frigate and sloop-of-war, all which belong to the 
French. A forty-gun ship was burned by us in the 
siege. 

This is the greatest blow our enemies have re- 
ceived during the war, more particularly as it has 
happened in that part of the continent they thought 
themselves perfectly secure of, and must, with a 
continuance of our exertions, soon put us in pos- 
session of our wished-for peace. 

Arrangements are now forming for the future dis- 
posal of the troops, and I suppose those troops that 
belong northward will soon march for their old posi- 
tion on the Hudson. His Excellency will return 
with them. General Greene will be reinforced; and 
Count Rochambeau with his army will perhaps re- 
main in this State. 

Count de Grasse, with the first fleet in the world, 
will, if the British dare face him, give them another 
flogging, and then pursue the orders of his master. 

[311] 



Two Men of Taunton 



I can't write you any more. Give my love to Mrs. 
Paine and family, and remembrance to all friends. 
Don't forget honest Joe. You will probably hear 
from me again when I come a little nearer to you; 
at present I am out of the world. My best wishes 
attend you, and believe me ever your sincere friend. 

David Cobb. 
Hon'ble Robt. Treat Paine. 



Chapter XIX 
First Attorney-General of Massachusetts 

No rogue e'er felt the halter draw 
With good opinion of the law. 

Trumbull. 

POLITICS is a maelstrom more difficult to 
emerge from than to enter. For thirty-five 
years, Paine was never without some sort 
of political office in Massachusetts, always care- 
ful not to let go with one hand until he caught a 
good grip with the other. He was Representa- 
tive in the General Court, Delegate to Congress, 
Attorney-General, Judge of the Supreme Court, 
and Member of the Council. When he came back 
from Philadelphia, he ceased to be a national 
figure, but bore an important part in transform- 
ing his native province into a republican com- 
monwealth. After the Declaration of Independ- 
ence, Congress began to wane in importance. 
Paine preferred a seat in the Massachusetts As- 
sembly, where he could be of greater service as 
well as nearer to his family and base of supplies. 
In August, 1777, he was elected Attorney-General 
to succeed his former companion, Sewall, now 
fled with the Loyalists and writing from London : 

I hope to God that I shall not live to see the day 
when America shall become independent of Great 

[ 313 ] 



Two Men ot Taunton 



Britain, nor have to entertain the penumbra of a 
doubt how the game will end.^ 

As first Attorney-General of the Commonwealth, 
he upheld Governors Hancock and Bowdoin in 
bringing social order out of chaos and giving 
equal opportunity under the law. His duties were 
arduous and diversified; there were many difficul- 
ties to overcome, many snarls to unravel. War had 
paralyzed business, reduced thousands to poverty, 
let down the bars of morality, and left a heavy 
debt, compelling onerous taxation. Conflicting 
interests were to be reconciled; restless spirits to 
be subdued; visionary schemes to be exploded; 
abuses, riots, and insubordination to be suppressed. 
He had to deal with counterfeiters, murderers, 
traitors, embezzlers, and all the slippery, evasive, 
case-hardened, vicious, and incorrigible charac- 
ters bred by revolution. Paine's spare moments 
were consumed in committee with Timothy 
Pickering, James Bowdoin, and the Supreme 

* Paine accepted the appointment in these words: 

To the honourable the Council and House of Representatives of the 
State of Massachusetts Bay. 
Gentlemen, — I consider myself much honoured by your appoint- 
ment of me to the office of Attorney-General for this state. 

I hope the importance of my political Engagements will be con- 
sidered as an Excuse for not giving an answer sooner. 

I accept of the Office, and I hope whilst I am in it I shall answer the 
reasonable expectations of my Constituents. 
With the greatest Esteem I am 

Y'r obedient h'ble Ser't 

R. T. Paine. 
August 26,' 1777. 

[314] 



First Attorney-General 



Court judges, revising the Province laws, weed- 
ing out all references to the King, and compiling 
a digest for the new Government. 

During his term of office, three episodes now 
stand out as brightly as the stars in Orion's 
Belt — the confiscation of Tory estates, the 
drafting of the State Constitution, and the prose- 
cution of the leaders in Shays's Rebellion. The 
claims of creditors against Tories required im- 
mediate attention. One of the early acts of the 
reorganized General Court was the confiscation 
of the property of absentees, on the ground that, 
when a majority of a nation is at war, its citizens 
must render service; if they decline to aid, they 
are enemies; consequently, their "goods and chat- 
tels, rights and credits, lands, tenements, and 
hereditaments of every kind, shall escheat, inure, 
and accrue to the sole use and benefit of the gov- 
ernment and people of the state." The Attorney- 
General was empowered to bring action against 
such estates, and to attach notices of sale upon 
the deserted houses. He could exhibit to the Court 
a complaint against any absent Loyalist. Thus 
it happened, by an ironical turn of Fate, that Mr. 
Paine could take action of confiscation against 
Colonel Leonard's estate; order a notice of its 
sale to be posted on his mansion, and name a com- 
mittee to appraise his property, of which Paine 
secured a portion in settlement of a personal debt. 

[315] 



Two Men of Taunton 



The tangled estates of the Tories had not been 
straightened out, before Paine was called to take 
part in drafting a State Constitution. He was 
one of twelve persons to whom was entrusted the 
framing of a constitution, of which an original 
preliminary draft is preserved in his handwrit- 
ing. This first constitution was accepted by the 
Legislature, but rejected, five to one, by the 
people, as too hastily prepared, and not contain- 
ing a Bill of Rights. In this discussion of a con- 
stitution, Paine urged that a single legislative 
chamber was better than two, a view held also by 
Franklin and Gushing. 

Massachusetts had no governor from 1775 to 
1780, the Council being then the governing board 
of the State. To this Council, Paine was chosen in 
placeof Hopkins, in 1779. From the 17th of June, 
1774, Massachusetts practically became a free 
and independent State. In that year commissions 
were ordered to run in the name of its "govern- 
ment and people," in lieu of the King's name. On 
the 17th of June, 1779, precepts were sent out for 
the election of delegates to assemble in the follow- 
ing September, exactly five years after the Re- 
presentatives at Salem locked the door against 
Governor Gage and took their first step for self- 
government; and four years from Bunker Hill 
day. Through those years their capacity for self- 
government, and inborn reverence for law, their 

[316] 



First Attorney-General 



pervading moral sense and love of justice, their 
self-denial and self-control, enabled the people 
of Massachusetts to keep the ship of state from 
foundering in a sea of chaos. 

The year 1780 saw the birth of the Constitu- 
tion which Paine bore a part in fathering. The 
convention which framed the constitution met 
in the meeting-house in Cambridge, September i, 
1779, and after seven days took a recess until 
October 28. January 5, 1780, it again met in the 
Old State House at Boston, where its labors were 
completed on the 2d day of March. A committee 
of thirty, to whom was referred the work of pre- 
paring a plan and form of government, included 
Paine; the task was by them entrusted to a sub- 
committee consisting of President Bowdoln and 
the two Adamses, who in turn delegated the labor 
to John Adams alone. He approved a compul- 
sory support of worship, Congregationalism being 
the state religion of Massachusetts; and this ar- 
ticle was made even more narrow by the conven- 
tion. Compulsory taxation for compulsory reli- 
gious worship lingered from the Puritan period, in 
which the perfect church and perfect common- 
wealth were held inseparable. According to the 
first draft of this constitution, no one might hold 
office who was not a Protestant. Though it was 
not adopted, this indicated the trend of feeling 
towards greater toleration than had been granted 

[ 317] 



Two Men of Taunton 



by the original constitutions of the Massachusetts 
colonies, which declared that no one should hold 
office who was not a member of the Congregational 
Church.* 

The founders studied the ancient European 
governments. Using as models the King, Lords, 
and Commons (words now unpalatable to Ameri- 
cans), they established a Governor, Senate, and 
House of Representatives, their powers and 
duties somewhat modified by the changed sit- 
uation and circumstances, but not essentially 
altered in elementary principles.^ Office-holding 
was made dependent on a property qualification. 
A local residence of Representatives was required, 
on account of some recusant Bostonians who held 
seats for country towns, following British cus- 
tom. The encouragement of learning was a strong 
point In the Bill of Rights. Massachusetts, having 
small agricultural and mineral resources, must 
depend on the superior enlightenment and skill 
of its people to maintain a leading place. Hence 

^ Upon the divorce of Church and State by legislative act 
in 1833, many church-goers felt that the Christian Common- 
wealth had sunk into a secular corporation. In the progress of 
toleration and liberality we find in our Legislature to-day, Jew 
and Gentile, Roman Catholic and Christian Scientist, voting 
side by side. 

2 The other day, James Bryce stated, from the Massachu- 
setts Speaker's desk, that this legislative body was nearest to the 
old English Parliament of any institution in the world. 

[318I 



First Attorney-General 



education has always been a pet hobby of this 
State. Another noticeable feature was the injunc- 
tion that citizens cultivate good humor, — proving 
that even the testy John Adams set store by a 
kindly disposition. This constitution guaranteed 
to the people of Massachusetts the right to be 
tried by "judges as fair, impartial, and independ- 
ent as the lot of humanity allows." 

On the 25th day of October, 1780, a proclama- 
tion was made from the balcony of the Old State 
House that Governor Hancock had taken the oath 
of office as the first Chief Magistrate elected under 
the new constitution. 

The government had not been firmly established 
when an insurrection broke out under the lead 
of General Daniel Shays. Most of his followers 
were soldiers of the Revolution, ill-clad, ill-fed, ill- 
paid, ill-tempered. There was a reason for the 
uprising. After the war, paper currency fell in 
value, debts increased, people forgot their eco- 
nomical habits, morals were lowered by the long 
closing of the schools and churches. There was 
widespread poverty, disaster, and despair. Many 
advocated repudiation and the State's credit was 
much impaired. The chief exports had been furs, 
sheep, potash, codfish, lumber, flaxseed, oil, and 
vessels. The war had paralyzed trade; there was 
little money; business was transacted by barter, 
and New England rum went a long way toward 
[ 319 ] 



Two Men of Taunton 



liquidating obligations.^ Horses, wagons, oxen, 
cows, and farm implements were seized by tax 
collectors and sold at auction for a song. Any- 
thing that the collector left, other creditors at- 
tached. Frequent insolvencies caused endless 
prosecutions. Unthinking Patriots considered 
taxation an insult to American freedom. Certain 
malcontents held a socialistic idea of wiping out 
all state debts by an act of the Legislature; and 
a "society for the avoidance of personal obliga- 
tions" was proposed. Continental paper money 
so depreciated in value that the expression was 
coined, " not worth a continental." ^ This increase 
in civil actions was a bonanza to the legal frater- 
nity, whose unpopularity had its head and front 
in Attorney-General Paine, arch-lawyer of the 
State. ^ It was not his office to show mercy; 
he must see the laws obeyed and violations duly 
punished — an ungrateful task at best. His pres- 
ence was minatory, his countenance fulminant. 
Harsh backbiters charged him with pitilessly 
following criminals to the jail and gallows, and 
threatening letters were tossed over his fence at 

* Edward Bellamy in the Duke of Stockbridge calls the rebel- 
lion a "gentilities war." 

^ Rhode Island issued so much paper money that it came 
to be known as "Rogue Island." 

' The town of Salisbury sent remonstrances to the General 
Court because too many lawyers were drafting the Constitution 
of 1780. 

[ 320 ] 



First Attorney-General 



night. ^ Popular conventions endeavored to thwart 
the course of justice. Outbreaks occurred in va- 
rious parts of the State in the fall of 1786.^ The 
leaders were captured and under Paine's prosecu- 
tion were convicted, but were pardoned by Gover- 
nor Bowdoln. A seditious member of the Legis- 
lature was sentenced to sit in the gallows with a 
rope about his neck. 

Paine was on a committee to confer with Gov- 
ernor Bowdoin on the alarming situation. Fore- 
seeing trouble in Taunton, he had Dr. Cobb em- 
powered with full military authority to deal with 
the crisis. In his diary, Paine speaks of being at 
Taunton September 12, 1786, during the outbreak, 
and witnessing the dramatic action of his brother- 
in-law, who thus threatened the mob gathered 
under command of David Valentine, "Away with 
your whining! I will hold this court if I hold it in 
blood." That was on a rainy day in September. 
In October, when court again convened, there 

^ In 1778, Paine had the unpleasant duty of prosecuting 
Bathsheba Spooner, of Worcester, daughter of Timothy 
Ruggles, for instigating the murder of her aged husband in order 
that she could marry a youthful lover; although about to be- 
come a mother she was executed before a large concourse — 
the last woman to receive capital punishment in Massachusetts. 

^ One day in Worcester the Judges thought that Birnam 
Wood had come to Dunsinane, for a body of tatterdemalions 
besieged the court-house, each bearing a small pine tree as a 
badge of Liberty. 

[ 321 ] 



Two Men of Taunton 



was further trouble. A double line of soldiers was 
drawn up on the southerly side of the Green, and 
General Cobb, donning his old regimentals, brought 
out "Old Tobey," and gave his order to the rebels, 
"Cross that line and I fire; the blood be upon 
your head!" Paine's diary reads thus: 

October 25, at noon, mob came to the Green 
headed by David Valentine; in numbers about 140 
arrived. They paraded on south side of Green and in 
the afternoon sent in a petition to the court, finding 
the militia commanded by General Cobb to be about 
380 well armed, and efiicient with a field-piece. 
Wheeler with his party marched off and disbanded 
and we heard no more of them. 

October 29, 1786. Superior Court of Judicature 
held at Taunton. Militia came from Raynham, 
Bridgewater, and other parts. 

Public sentiment triumphed as usual. The 
rebellion was suppressed without serious blood- 
shed. Soon came the ratification of the Federal 
Constitution by a convention in which Paine was 
a delegate. In politics, a man not only finds 
strange bedfellows, but turns strange somer- 
saults. To make a Conservative of a Radical, 
give him property to protect or an office of re- 
sponsibility. As a young man, Paine was a free- 
lance and espoused the cause of the multitude 
against centralized British Government (although 
at heart more aristocratic than Tory Leonard). 
[ 322 ] 



First Attorney-General 



With years came responsibility and caution. Find- 
ing himself with a family to provide for and pro- 
perty to protect and holding high office, he became 
a Conservative and advocated the most advanced 
measures of the Federalists, among whom there 
was much trepidation lest the national constitu- 
tion should not be adopted, so strong was the 
opposition.^ 

Paine urged upon grand jurors the protection 
of property and individual rights ; saw to it that 
the laws were duly executed for the support of 
schools, and that every town of fifty or more in- 
habitants maintained a school-house. He insisted 
that religious principles were a necessary found- 
ation for morality and virtue, and that the in- 
structions of a learned clergy were indispensable. 
He backed up Governor Hancock in his effort to 
suppress Sheridan's "School for Scandal," on the 
ground that the theatre was undermining the 
character of the people; of which he soon had 
a practical illustration coming close home to 
him. 

Paine was a reconstructionist. He had as- 
sisted in laying the corner-stone of the new na- 
tion in 1776 and in establishing a state constitu- 
tion in 1780. Four years later, he was one of a 
committee in Boston to recommend a change in 

^ " If you do not believe in a central common union, then let 
Shay be made Governor" was an effective argument. 

[ 323 ] 



Two Men of Taunton 



the municipal government. Two plans were re- 
ported; one for a mayor, aldermen and council- 
men, the other for a president and selectmen. 
The people overwhelmingly rejected both plans 
— they had not forgotten that the Revolution 
had been accomplished under the town-meeting 
system and were quite satisfied with the outcome 
of that struggle. 

The bread-and-butter problem of existence 
pressed home to Paine in every calculation. While 
Attorney-General, he writes to Governor Han- 
cock confessing his reduced circumstances : 

To his Excellency Governor Hancock, September 
II, 1787. 

R. T. Paine, Attorney-General, begs leave to 
represent that in the execution of his office he must 
set out on Monday next on the Western Circuit to 
attend the sessions of the Supreme Court, and he 
feels himself unhappy to be obliged to say that he 
cannot command money enough to bear his ex- 
penses and support his family at home who depend 
on the daily expenditure of money for their sub- 
sistence, etc. 

He therefore prays your excellency and honor that 
a warrant may be granted him for half a year's ser- 
vices — and that your excellency and honor would 
consider the necessity of his being paid to enable 
him to execute his office. 



[ 324 ] 



First Attorney-General 



From his wife's family, he received money to as- 
sist in building his Taunton home, and his wife's 
sister, Hannah, paid for the burial lot in which his 
son was laid. He claimed that he never received 
pay for services in the confiscation of Tory pro- 
perty. In his later years he was charged with mis- 
appropriation of thirty pounds while at the Con- 
tinental Congress. Washington himself was not 
immune from trumped-up charges of peculation, 
and when Franklin was accused with extrava- 
gance In having spent a hundred thousand dollars 
of American money, during his services for the 
Revolution, he replied, "Thou shalt not muzzle 
the ox that treadeth out the corn." 

After thirteen years' service in helping the 
infant commonwealth upon its feet, Paine felt 
that he should occupy a position of more dignity 
with and leisure befitting his years. To John 
Adams he wrote : 

Boston, April 13, 1789. 

Much respected Friend: 

When we were going to the first Congress our 
worthy friend Hawley gave us In writing some broken 
hints — I take liberty to Imitate him In the method 
tho' not in the matter. 

I Intended to have done myself the great pleasure 
to wait on you at Braintree for the benefit of so- 
cial conversation, but innumerable Accidents have 
prevented. I wish to Communicate a few Ideas re- 

[ 325 1 



Two Men of Taunton 



specting my Official Situation, and hope this method 
may not be disagreeable. 

I have toiled in public business from the first 
movings of the Revolution with all my Exertions 
of mind and body, eleven Years In my present 
Ofiice, and what with the difficulties of the time, 
and the contracted Ideas some Influential men 
have of Supporting public Officers, I have spent 
my well-earned monies I had on Loan for the neces- 
sary Support of my family, and in lieu thereof have 
demands on Government which bear no Interest 
and which I receive in a manner too scanty for my 
Support — twice have I been honored with an ap- 
pointment to the Sup. Court, the first while at 
Congress I declined because I thought I could be 
more Serviceable (in our precarious State) in the 
political line, — when I returned from Congress 
In '77 I accepted the present Office, on the Unex- 
pected Call of Government, because I saw It was 
necessary for the Existence of the Commonwealth, 
that It should be executed In the manner which I 
have endeavored, and every Lawyer who was cap- 
able was Immersed in more profitable business — I 
cannot describe the fatigue of it, nothing but a 
Sense of Honor and Duty prevented my resigning 
— in '83 I was honored with an appointment to the 
Sup. Jud. bench which I declined because I hoped 
my Office would have yielded me more Income which 
my family wanted than a Judgeship, but I have been 
sadly disappointed, and have the mortification to 
find myself Outranked by all my juniors in Politicks, 

[3261 



First Attorney-General 



and having no Income to recompense It, and drudg- 
ing in an Office which, tho' of essential importance 
to the Government, I have been out of the line of 
public notice, and am not without Appreciation 
that the change of Government may still further 
reduce me — I have not sought Popularity but 
endeavoured to do my duty, expecting that this 
which first brought me into notice would continue 
me in It — 

My age, abilities, political pretensions, of all 
which you will judge for yourself, make me wish 
for some Station less exposed to drudgery and fatigue 
than that I am in, but my Family Circumstances 
oblige me to attend to that Income. If a Judgeship, 
or quam dies office should turn up It would suit 
me better than the one I am in, and if I should be 
appointed to this with reasonable support I shall 
be thankful — I do not mean to solicit anything 
improperly, and if I should, I am sure it would have 
no effect on you — I present these observations 
because I have always known you attentive to a 
Propriety of Conduct and desirous of a state of 
facts, and I have no other wishes than that as Op- 
portunity offers you would do respecting the premises 
what you think proper to be done. I think General 
Washington cannot have forgotten me, my Vote, 
when he took charge of our Army to support him 
with life and fortune and my signing the Charter 
of our Independence — It would be galling to me 
to find that those who in the times of greatest dan- 
ger were acting a questionable part, should now catch 

[ 327 1 



Two Men of Taunton 



the bird from the bush which I have beaten — but 
I will trouble you no more, but wishing you health 
and all happiness, 

Subscribe your friend and Servant 

R. T. Paine. 
P.S. If there is Occasion for any particular in- 
formation, pray favour me with a line. 



Chapter XX 
A Supreme Court "Justice 

Use every man after his desert, and who should 'scape whipping. 

Hamlet. 

ALEXANDER HAMILTON once remarked 
that he was never contented unless he had 
^ three good friends to love and three bad 
enemies to hate. Paine was a strong admirer of 
Hamilton's scheme for a centralized government 
and a national bank, and impatiently awaited 
the stage-coach bringing the weekly "Federalist," 
to read the contributions from the fine mind of 
"Publius." Paine was somewhat akin to the 
"Little Lion," for he had the hot temper which 
goes with black eyes. Although a London magazine, 
inspired by vindictive Loyalists, spoke of him as 
"a weak, insignificant tool of Sam Adams"; and 
in the next breath says, "John Adams spoiled 
an able ploughman, porter, or butcher." Without 
the acumen and initiative of Hamilton, he was 
not so positive a force to win strong friends, 
and make fierce enemies. Paine held aloof from 
bosom companionship. Not only was he wanting 
in genial personal magnetism, but he lacked the 

[ 329 ] 



Two Men of Taunton 



lodestone of an overflowing purse, which Leonard 
found eflfective in drawing a circle about him. 
Paine's office of Attorney-General was one to 
bring him more foes than friends. He was not al- 
ways careful to veil his opinions, and he had a taste 
for controversy in politics and religion. He dis- 
covered an intriguing correspondence between 
Thomas Gushing and John Adams, which dis- 
closed an attempt to supplant him in the good 
opinion of his constituents. There were intervals 
in his life when relations were strained between 
him and James Warren and Judge Dana, as 
well as with Daniel Leonard. When we call the 
roll of his intimate friends, we find: John Han- 
cock, William Gushing (the only one of the last 
five Provincial Judges who held to the Patriot 
side); Samuel Eliot, great-grandfather of Pres- 
ident Eliot; General Palmer, Gol. Orne, Richard 
Granch, Increase Sumner, Dr. Gobb, and Oliver 
Wendell, with whom he frequently dined on 
July 4. The intimacy between the Paine and 
Hancock families existed in earlier generations 
— the fathers of John and Robert had preached 
in adjoining parishes, Braintree and Weymouth, 
occasionally exchanging pulpits. Both the boys 
attended the Boston Latin School and Harvard 
Gollege; both were sons of ministers; both tardy 
in marrying; both members of the Legislature 
and of the Gontinental Gongress. When Hancock 
[ 330 ] 




JOHN HANCOCK 



A Supreme Court Justice 

wrote his name on the Declaration "big enough 
for King George to see across the Atlantic," Paine 
saw to it that his name, crowding close up to that 
of the presiding officer, was second in bigness. 
These two men were much together, travelling, 
dining, legislating, and many a time walked side 
by side as pall-bearers for departed comrades.^ 

Hancock, as Governor, appointed his friend a 
Justice of the Supreme Court. Paine had pre- 
viously declined this honor. In 1775, after the 
overthrow of the Supreme Court of Judicature, 
a new bench was chosen of which Paine was a 
member; but when he heard that John Adams was 
to be Chief Justice, and he, five years older, to 
play second fiddle, he made excuses, and found 
his services of greater value to his country at 
Philadelphia. Governor Hancock first appointed 
Paine to the bench in 1783 ; but he then preferred 
to continue as Attorney-General on the plea that 
the salary of Judge was too small. The position 
was again tendered in 1790. This time Paine 
found plenty of reasons for accepting. Accord- 
ingly, he donned the scarlet and black robe and 
white-topped boots so noticeable when the Court 
marched through the streets of Boston.^ 

* Judge Paine made his last appearance in the great court 
wig on the occasion of Hancock's funeral. 

^ Judge Dana had been minister to Russia and brought back 
the Muscovite habit of protecting his fingers in a muff and wore 

[ 331 ] 



Two Men of Taunton 



He brought abundant qualifications to his new 
office. The practical, bred of experience, and the 
instinctive ideal were united in him. He was as- 
sociated with Judges Sargent, Sedgwick, Dana, 
Sumner, and Gushing. Every October, Paine 
came to Taunton, to receive a welcome from old 
friends and sit as Judge in the Court-House, 
which he had frequented as barrister and Attorney- 
General. As we see him in flowing robes standing 
meditatively in bronze before the Gity Hall, so 
we may picture him in corpore crossing the Gom- 
mon to enter the old Gourt-House, which he and 
Daniel Leonard had been the committee to build 
in their humbler days. As justice in eyre, he was 
obliged to make a round of circuits to various parts 
of Massachusetts, which then included Maine. 
In March, 1800, Judge Paine speaks of riding his 
circuit when the roads were "flooded belly-deep 
to a horse." It was a dreaded annoyance to make 
the long journey to Maine, and the judges found 
curious excuses In their efforts to shirk this duty. 
Beneath the calm exterior of judicial gravity 
volcanic fires were smouldering, as the following 
letters bear witness : 



a white corduroy surtout lined with fur. His high-heeled shoes 
lifted him to a scant five feet in stature, and he appeared so 
grotesque in his gaudy apparel that the court soon discarded 
the red gown for the sable one in which judges becloud them- 
selves to-day. 

[ 332 ] 



A Supreme Court Justice 

Ipswich, June 24, 1796. * 
Sir: 

I am not about to solicit any favors of you ; I too 
well know the gratification you would receive In 
refusing it if I should. My present design Is to state 
a few circumstances for your consideration. Two 
years successively, if I mistake not, you requested 
to be excused from the eastern circuit, on account 
of two of your sons graduating. I freely acquiesced 
in the proposition, not only because I foresaw I 
should wish a reasonable indulgence on a similar 
occasion. That time has now come. Judge Sumner 
had already been called off by the death of his 
mother. Whether he will go to York Is uncertain. 
Your presence there as well as in the lower counties 
will become necessary if he should not return. 

I have understood (not from what passed be- 
tween us only) that you have intended to absent 
yourself from this term and York term also, and 
so oblige me to attend both. Now if such continues 
to be your design, I give you reasonable notice that 
I shall return home from this place and shall not 
go on to York, or either of the lower counties. You 
will act your pleasure. 

I am, Sir, your obedient and humble servant, 

F. P. Dana. 

Paine sent back this Roland for his Oliver: 

Boston, July 26, 1796. 
Sir: 

It is very disagreeable to me on many accounts 
that I find myself under a necessity of remarking 

[ 333 ] 



Two Men of Taunton 



on y'r very extraordinary letter, and lest you may 
have forgotten the first sentence which seems to 
be the principle that dictated the whole, I copy 
it, in these words. . . . The rankness, coarseness, 
groundless assertion of this introduction are as- 
tounding. When you can recollect any conduct of 
mine that bears any resemblance of a want of re- 
spect and a disposition to serve you as far as I could 
consistent with the duty I owe to myself and family, 
I sincerely wish you to make it known to me and if 
the charge seems to be well supported I shall cer- 
tainly repent and set about a reformation. 

Judge Paine then refers to records to show that 
he had been as faithful as Dana and explicitly 
explains why he wishes to be absent from York 
court. He continues: 

Had you given any reason for not attending at 
York, I should have listened to it, but to be told in 
so unjustified a manner that you would not attend at 
York is a mode of conduct that neither profits nor 
pleases. When you point any error in this state- 
ment I shall attend to it; till then I must submit 
that nothing in that occurrence can justify the 
sentiment and style of y'r letter. 

Then follows a precise statement of absences 
of both judges taken from the records — of no 
advantage to Dana. Paine shows how he is hard- 
pressed to support a large family and concludes : 

There are other matters also worthy of your at- 
[ 334 ] 



A Supreme Court Justice 

tentlon which at present I do not mention, but rest 
these matters for your consideration, hoping you 
will acquit me of the grievous charges you have 
brought against me and that it will prove to have 
been the production of a momentary impulse. 
I am yours very respectfully, 

R. T. Paine. 

A more humorous episode occurred in Maine. 
Paine had been on the bench but a year when, 
with. Justice Sumner, the Attorney-General, the 
Clerk of Courts and his friend, the French Con- 
sul, he was going from Portland to Pownals- 
burgh. The court adjourned at Portland on Fri- 
day and, to reach Pownalsburgh on Tuesday, they 
jogged along while the folks of Freeport were at 
Sunday meeting. The procession would have 
slipped by unnoticed had not the Frenchman, 
who rode in a "chair," trotted down into the 
heart of the town in search of the hairdresser with 
the result that his vehicle broke down, causing 
a delay which attracted attention. The warden 
came out, and in the name of the Commonwealth 
of Massachusetts arrested the whole company for 
wilfully profaning the Lord's Day. In vain the 
Judge and Attorney-General pleaded that it was 
a case of necessity. They represented that the 
roads were bad, the time was short, and the 
weather inclement; that there was a case of mur- 
der on trial, and unless they arrived in time it 
[ 335 ] 



Two Men of Taunton 



would be postponed a year. The officious war- 
den, to gratify his own caprice, refused to be si- 
lenced. The party was at length allowed to pass 
on, but the Frenchman's popularity was under a 
temporary cloud. 

When the court at Pownalsburgh came to ad- 
journ, Paine went out to the row of sheds behind 
the town house, and in the stall where he had left 
his horse he found a similar-looking steed, but of 
inferior speed and value. Some careless citizen 
had exchanged horses while the court was in ses- 
sion, and was already beyond recall. "Maybe 
you think more of my chaise now?" said the 
Frenchman, shrugging his shoulders, as, with a 
twinkle in his eye, he invited Paine to take a seat 
in his carriage for the rest of the journey. 

The judges were fined a round sum for their 
Sabbath-breaking and at once prepared a long 
memorial to the General Court, which has been 
preserved, stating that they had as "much respect 
for the Sabbath, as the Christian religion re- 
quired"; that they were the persons to decide 
whether the case was one of necessity; and if they 
thought for a moment they had broken the law, 
they would have paid the fine. Paine was cha- 
grined to think that, having been instrumental 
in drafting the Sunday law, he should be charged 
with breaking it. To protect the court from mor- 
tification, the Sunday laws relating to travelling 

[336] 



A Supreme Court Justice 

were repealed, and the indictment against the 
court was annulled. 

At Plymouth, a society had been formed which 
annually celebrated the landing of the Pilgrim 
Fathers, and at its meetings Leonard and Paine 
were frequent guests, both having Pilgrim an- 
cestry. Its festival was colloquially known as 
the "Feast of Shells." ^ The name was derived 
from the fact that the company first attempted to 
take their soup with cockle-shells, after the pio- 
neer fashion. They speedily discovered that these 
utensils were spoiling too many satin breeches, and 
therefore called for silver spoons ; although appear- 
ances of luxury were supposed to be avoided 
in imitation of the worthy ancestors. This feast 
was transferred to Boston after the Revolution. 
Judge Paine always attended and joined in the 
post-prandial chorus. "The Independent Chron- 
icle" December 30, 1802, commenting on the 
convivial features of the occasion, said that one 
of the thirty-one speakers was introduced by the 
popular song, "Go to the Devil and Shake Your- 
self," — adding: 

This is a pretty ditty for the Sons of our pious 

^ A contemporary says of it: "It was become fashionable 
of late for a few of the rich and well-born gentry to celebrate 
what they call the anniversary of the landing of our forefathers 
at Cape Cod and Plymouth. Not out of new-fangledness, or 
other such like giddie humor, but for sundrie, weightie, and solid 
reasons." 

[ 337 ] 



Two Men of Taunton 



Forefathers — what an appearance must General 
Lincoln and Judge Paine make in company with 
Stephen Higginson, Fisher Ames, Timothy Picker- 
ing, Dr. Parker, and Rev. Mr. John Gardiner, etc., 
etc., while attentively listening to the music of "Go 
to the Devil and Shake Yourself." This is piety 
with a vengeance. • 

In his later years, Paine was subject to fits of 
abstraction. Never gifted with the elegance and 
suavity which endeared Colonel Leonard to his 
associates, he earned the sobriquet of "Ursus 
Major" among the young lawyers. As deafness 
shut him off from the world and old age pressed 
upon him, he became arbitrary. The manners of 
the bench at that time were not wholly Chester- 
fieldian. Fisher Ames once unfeelingly remarked 
that to practise before the Supreme Court a 
lawyer should carry a club and an ear-trumpet. 
After serving fourteen years, Paine's increasing 
infirmity compelled him to resign. Upon his re- 
tirement, in 1804, his several titles were aug- 
mented by an honorary LL.D. from Harvard. 
He had been addressed successively as Captain, 
Reverend, Squire, and Judge; now he was com- 
plimented with the title of Doctor. 



Chapter XXI 
Daniel in the Lions' Den 

But Daniel sat in the gate of the king. — Dan. 11:49. 

THE scene now shifts across the Atlantic. 
Enter Leonard, a coach passenger, his 
eyes feasting on the novel sights, as he 
rides from Falmouth up to the capital of the 
British Empire through the thrifty, well-kept 
farms of southern England. August 12, 1776, he 
first sets foot in London. Now at last Daniel 
finds himself in the den of the friendly British 
Lion. He has passed four anxious months in fog- 
bound Halifax. He has learned of the forthcoming 
Declaration of Independence. Apprehensive, he 
has set sail for England to ascertain the prob- 
able outcome, leaving his family in Halifax. While 
he is crossing the ocean, the umbilical cord of 
the colonies is severed. Arrived in London, he 
seeks out his friends, Hutchinson, Oliver, Sewall, 
Browne, and other intimates, who, not insensible 
to their situation, greet him with a smile which 
seems to say, "Well, here we are again!" But 
the veneer of forced mirth covers misgivings deep 
and sore. With other New England fugitives, 
many of them "grass widowers," he frequents the 

[ 339 1 



Two Men of Taunton 



Adelphi Tavern on the Strand, and the New Eng- 
land Coffee House in Threadneedle Street, where 
every Friday afternoon there is a dinner party at 
which American affairs are discussed by a rump 
Congress.^ 

These Tories, shortening sail, lived in "shabby- 
genteel" quarters at Brompton Row, Kensington, 
and only by rigid economy could they preserve 
a respectable exterior. They had small source 
of income, and were little more than remittance- 
men awaiting drafts from America. Leonard, for 
example, indulged in no new raiment, was abste- 
mious in food and drink, borrowed newspapers, 
and sought invitations to dinner. He could not 
take snuff with the big-wigs ; did not find the doors 
of high society open to him; nor was there a warm 
welcome in smaller social circles, as at home. He 
could not appear to advantage at Almack's or 
Newmarket, or cut a good figure at Bath or Rane- 

^ The New England Club formed in London, January, 1776, 
included: Richard Clark, Joseph Green, Jonathan Bliss, Jona- 
than Sewall, Joseph Waldo, S. S. Blowers, Elisha Hutchinson, 
William Hutchinson, Thomas Hutchinson, Samuel Sewall, 
Samuel Curw^en, Samuel Quincy, Rev. Isaac Smith, Harrison 
Gray, David Greene, Jonathan Clark, Thomas Flucker (once 
secretary of the assembly), Joseph Taylor, Daniel Silsbee, 
Thomas Branley, William Cabot, John S. Copley (the painter), 
Nathaniel Coffin, Samuel Porter, Edward Oxhard, Benjamin 
Pickman, John Amory, Judge Robert Auchmuty, Major Urqu- 
hart. Colonel Saltonstall, Sir William Pepperrell, Colonel 
Daniel Leonard, William Browne, Colonel Thomas Brattle. 

[ 340 ] 



Daniel in the Lions' Den 

lagh, so slender was his purse. He found himself 
neither fish nor flesh nor good red herring. 

In America, these exiles had been wealthy and 
successful; their lives passed in dignified occupa- 
tions. In England, they were nobodies anxiously 
waiting for the war at home to cease. Very few 
could kiss the hand of their sovereign at state 
levees, and they listened intently to Hutchin- 
son's account of royalty, happy if he gave them 
an entree to court circles. Leonard, having time 
on his hands, bethought himself to look up his 
family connections. He hunted out Lord Dacre, 
a Leonard, with whom he searched up and down 
the branches of their family tree. Consanguinity 
was acknowledged with proper ceremony and 
libation. Rumor whispered that a baronetcy was 
oifered Daniel. When the story reached Taunton 
that Leonard had spurned this offer, the towns- 
people shook their heads — they knew his weak- 
nesses too well. 

Eagerly the Tories read newspaper advices from 
America; the British victories of Long Island, 
White Plains, Fort Lee, Fort Washington, the 
capture of New York, elated them. They passed 
the gilded snuff-box, sneezed in contempt of Amer- 
ican Whigs, and grew hilarious over their punch 
and claret. What could the raw Provincials do 
against the well-disciplined troops of Sir William 
Howe and Clinton.^ They maligned the Patriot 

[341] 



Two Men of Taunton 



leaders — Sam Adams was light-fingered, em- 
bezzling the town funds; Hancock was a "pea- 
cock," defaulting as treasurer of Harvard; Paul 
Revere had stolen silver plate; Paine was the 
"upstart son of a broken-down minister"; John 
Adams was soured against the Government be- 
cause he had failed to get a Crown appointment. 
They pitied the discomfiture of "King Hancock," 
one of their own kind, accustomed as he had been 
to good society. One exile had brought away a 
half-bushel of the paper Continental currency. 
This they rolled into pipe-spills to light their 
meerschaums. Ha! ha! they laughed, tossing the 
half-burnt money upon the floor, — Washington 
would soon be hanged, and those ragged Patriots 
would be best off who could run the fastest. As 
for the United Colonies, — a democracy, they 
sneered, is a government in which the lowest rule. 
When the Declaration of Independence was an- 
nounced, they prophesied that internal disputes, 
rivalries, and jealousies would soon bring them 
all back into Great Britain's arms. "As well have 
thirteen tomcats in a bag for harmony," said 
Sewall. "Ho! ho! ho!" they roared, slapping one 
another on the back, and emptied bumpers to 
great King George. But the King took down his 
Bible and read in Isaiah i: 2: "I have nourished 
children and brought them up, and even they 
have revolted from me." 

[ 342 ] 



Daniel in the Lions* Den 

When Leonard heard that Paine was a signer 
of the Declaration he pictured him, the rebel, 
swinging from the gallows. Very soon after 
Paine, as Attorney-General, was empowered to 
prepare such a reception for Leonard should he 
venture to return to Massachusetts.^ 

They played basset, chess, and quadrille in the 
evenings, for very small stakes, and drank suc- 
cess to Clinton, Burgoyne, and the Hessian mer- 
cenaries, and confusion to Washington's army. 
When they read of Steuben, Pulaski, Lafayette, 
DeKalb, and Kosciusko hastening to the aid of 
the rebels, and learned of the battle of Saratoga, 
a flush of alarm spread over their brows. Under- 
neath affected jollity they were in reality a dis- 
mal company. Hope deferred maketh the heart 
sick. They formed a constant companionship 
through tastes and affinities as well as kindred 
misfortunes. Having little to do they met often 
to exchange hopes and fears and scan the latest 

^ Jonathan Sewall, former crony of Paine, now boon com- 
panion of Leonard, wrote home to their mutual friend, Gerry: 

Could you form a just idea of the immense wealth and power of the 
British nation, you would tremble at the foolish action of your petty 
States. I feel for the misery hastening on my countrymen, but they 
must think this our folly. I am confident that the glorious period is 
hastening when you will be emancipated from the tyrannical, arbitrary 
government under which you have for some time groaned — a gov- 
ernment for cruelty and ferocity not to be equalled by any but of the 
lower regions, where the Prince of Darkness is President, and has in his 
custody a number of rebels who are secured in chains awaiting the 
great judgement day. 

[ 343 ] 



Two Men of Taunton 



news. The Dark Day in America (May 17, 1780) 
caused a transient jubilation. The exiled Tories 
seized upon this phenomenon as an omen of dis- 
aster to the Colonists. They declared that it was 
the Devil spreading his wings over the northern 
rebels; that if they did not repent, the next time 
he would certainly fly off with them all. 

Every few weeks they attended the funeral of 
one of their number; and death, pressing home 
upon them, bound them more closely together. 
When these former leaders of Massachusetts 
society saw their old neighbors, Hancock, the 
Adamses, Gerry, Paine, Warren, Bowdoin, and 
Cushing, taking their places, they squirmed in 
protest, though they had no idea of shedding 
blood to support their cause, but would let the 
hired Hessians put down this rebellion of the pro- 
letariat. Lordly mastiifs should never contend 
with low-bred hounds. The flower of New Eng- 
land stood in line every quarter to receive minis- 
terial bounty. Homesickness, the most mordant 
of human ills, was eating their hearts.^ Feeding 
the mind on jealousy, wrath, and disappointment 
starves the body. Leonard, separated from his 
family, without funds, and having no employment, 

^ S. Curwen, of Salem, wrote home that he had abandoned 
his dwelling, his friends and means of living, which he might 
have retained on the condition of insults and a dress of tar 
and feathers — "an alternative much to be preferred to the 
distress of mind I am daily suffering." 

[ 344 ] 



Daniel in the Lions' Den 

fell critically ill, and for several weeks was con- 
fined to his bed, cared for by sympathetic exiles. 
What a pang of humiliation to be so miserable, 
lost and unknown in this great metropolis, he 
who had been so grand in his Taunton home! 
Hutchinson, the only American who could afford 
to give a dinner worth a crown, occasionally in- 
vited him to his table — and Leonard, financially 
worn down to skin and bone, was punctual in ac- 
ceptance.-^ Revisited the Abbey and the Museum, 
the "Cheshire Cheese," to catch sight of Sir 
Joshua Reynolds, Garrick, Gainsborough, Sheri- 
dan; and St. Clement's Church, where Dr. John- 
son sat in his well-worn pew.^ He went to the 
playhouse to see Kitty Clive, the actress; heard 
the famous Mr. Duche, who had opened the Amer- 
ican Congress with prayer, and was now preach- 
ing in London; attended the Disputing Club at 
the King's Arms; looked in at Copley's studio to 
see him painting his own family; and discussed the 
tragic murder of Miss Ray, the paramour of Lord 
Sandwich, by a frenzied admirer. Adam Smith's 
"Wealth of Nations" presented a proposition of 
seats in Parliament for Americans, and opened up 

^ Hutchinson, looking wistfully back to his old home, wrote 
that " New England was written upon his heart as Calais was 
upon Queen Mary's." 

^ The latter having the dictionary at his discretion was the 
editor of all conversation, and had written "Taxation No Ty- 
ranny "; he was a man to challenge Leonard's attention. 

[ 345 ] 



Two Men of Taunton 



a new prospect of acquiring importance to men 
of bounding ambition like Leonard. 

Of course, Leonard could not secure a seat; he 
was too poor to buy a borough, and what cared the 
people of England for Americans anyway? The no- 
bility considered them a "low, filthy, commercial 
people." Among the masses the suspicion had not 
wholly worn off that they wore feathers in their 
hair, moccasins on their feet, and carried toma- 
hawks and scalps dangling from their belts. An 
American artist, Benjamin West, apotheosized 
the Loyalists in a celebrated painting, wherein 
America is first personified as an Indian. Leonard 
could sit in the gallery at Westminster, applaud- 
ing Lord Shelburne pleading for the maintenance 
of the sovereignty of the mother country over the 
colonies at any sacrifice; but his courage fell when 
Rockingham and the Duke of Richmond argued 
that it was impossible to subdue the rebel colonists, 
and urged that Great Britain should acknowledge 
their independence with the best grace possible. 
He listened to Burke, Barre, Erskine; and Chat- 
ham exclaiming that " he would never lay down his 
arms, never! never!! never!!!" Daniel had long 
known that interference with sensitive English 
trade was arousing a back-fire against the war. 
At the opening of Parliament in 1778 after Sara- 
toga, the Government began to hold out the olive 
branch, but the Americans would not parley with 

[346] 



Daniel in the Lions' Den 

the English commissioners, and the breach was 
widened by the saiHng of a French fleet to succor 
them. The two subjects ever uppermost in the 
minds of the anxious exiles were the progress of 
the war, and their own chances of having their 
personal losses made good by government pen- 
sions. In 1778, Leonard heard that he was pro- 
scribed, among others, and prohibited from re- 
turning to Massachusetts on pain of death. In 
1779, when reverses came thick and fast to the 
King's troops, a delegation made up of one from 
each of the thirteen colonies, Leonard represent- 
ing Massachusetts, secured an audience with the 
King, to impress upon him their distresses. The 
King in an address to Parliament said : 

I trust that you will agree with me that a due and 
generous attention ought to be shown to those who 
have relinquished their property and possessions 
from loyalty to me or attachment to their mother 
country. 

Lord Townshend, Secretary of State, wrote : 

This country would feel itself bound in honor to 
make the Loyalists full compensation for their 
losses. 

And to the credit of the Crown it should be 
said that several million pounds were thus ex- 
pended. In 1782, Parliament appointed a com- 
mittee to examine these claims. By their deci- 
[ 347 1 



Two Men of Taunton 



sion in June, 1783, about ^250,000 was annually 
apportioned among 687 accredited pensioners. 
This number was increased to 2063 in 1784, re- 
presenting claims amounting to ^35,000,000. It 
is computed that Parliament paid these refugees 
^15,000,000, or one seventh of the total cost of 
the war. Documents show with what persist- 
ence Daniel Leonard begged tor help — demand- 
ing indemnity for property confiscated and for 
income forfeited. His many memorials disclose 
the straits of the refugees, and show through what 
official red tape their claims were delayed.^ 

Under the Compensation Act of 1784, claims 
to the amount of seven million pounds were re- 
presented, of which £1,877,000 were allowed. 
Leonard claimed £3621. He was allowed origi- 
nally £1215, i6j., and actually received £917, 17^., 
of which £487 was paid in the first instalment, 
and the balance later. In his memorial he claimed 
that he had a larger practice than any other 
barrister in Massachusetts, estimated by Seth 
Williams, at £600 a year. He claimed for loss of 
income £1060, and was allowed £500. He re- 
presented that he owned 400 acres in different 
parts of his province, worth not less than £4000, 

^ The antiquarian, in search of documentary data relating to 
an exiled Tory among the archives of the Colonial Secretary's 
Department, is handed a canvas bag a yard long stuffed with 
all papers relating to that individual Loyalist. 

[ 348] 



Daniel in the Lions' Den 

with mills and buildings thereon, and a personal 
estate of £8000. 

As years dragged on and hope that England 
would crush the rebellion was succeeded by the 
prospect of complete independence for the colo- 
nies, Leonard, in despair of returning to his patri- 
mony, was reminded by the hungry presence of 
his growing children, wife, and faithful servant, 
who had come over in the summer of 1778, that 
he must secure some office of sufficient revenue to 
meet the cost of living. Even before he had ac- 
cepted his fate as forever exiled, he sought admis- 
sion to the English Bar, and we find this entry at 
the Temple : 

Daniel Leonard, filius Unlcus Ephraimis Leon- 
ard, de Mansfield in America armigeri, generaliter 
admissus est in societatem istius communitatis, 
in consideratione trium librarium, sex solidorum 
& octo denarlorum praemanibus solutos quinto die 
Junii Anno Dom. 1777. 

He was called to the Bar May 30, 1779; but not 
recorded as a "bencher." Before he became a bar- 
rister, he had applied for an office. At first the 
American Secretary suggested the division of 
Maine and the creation of a province out of the 
territory between the Penobscot and St. Croix 
Rivers, to provide a place for Thomas Oliver as 
Governor, and Leonard as Chief Justice. This 
[ 349 ] 



Two Men of Taunton 



scheme, approved by the King and Ministry, was 
abandoned because the Attorney-General gave 
his opinion that the whole of Maine was included 
in Massachusetts. Then Lord Sackville, whose 
Tory hatred was carried so far that he resigned 
as Secretary of State rather than sign the treaty 
granting independence, offered Leonard the Chief 
Justiceship of Bermuda, upon the suggestion of 
Colonel William Browne, of Salem, who was 
appointed Governor of these islands. 



Chapter XXII 
Chief yustice of the Bermudas 

But bless the little fairy isle! 
How sweetly after all our ills, 

We saw the sunny morning smile 
Serenely on its fragrant hills. 

Tom Moore. 

They came into a land in which it seemed always afternoon. 

Homer. 

LEONARD'S life, spanning three genera- 
tions, separates naturally into a trilogy — 
cis-Atlantic, mid-Atlantic, trans-Atlantic. 
In 1781, when his friend, David Cobb, was with 
Washington, penning Cornwallis in the Virginia 
cul de sac, Leonard and William Browne, with 
their commissions and their families, sailed from 
England, for that sparkling gem of islands on the 
bosom of the Atlantic, called Bermuda. These 
islands would have joined the original thirteen 
states, if the sympathies of the inhabitants had 
prevailed.^ Bermuda was little known to Ameri- 
cans, though Bishop Berkeley, the year Paine 
was born, had planned to plant his American 
College there as a convenient centre for the Ameri- 
can provinces. The islands were first reported 

* It was Bermuda gunpowder that Washington used in the 
cannon that drove Leonard and Browne out of Boston. 

[3SI ] 



Two Men of Taunton 



by a Spaniard, Bermudez, who stumbled upon 
them in his way to Cuba. Since then, many 
another caravel has found an untimely grave by 
striking the adjacent submerged rocks. ^ The 
Bermudas were settled by the Virginia Company 
before the Pilgrims landed. Bermuda Hundred 
in Virginia was a gift to the island colonists, be- 
cause land was much more plentiful in Virginia 
than in Bermuda. At first called "La Garza" 
from the name of Bermudez's ship, later, on ac- 
count of disasters upon its shores, Bermuda was 
named "Isle of Devils"; next, "Virginiola"; then, 
"Summer Islands"; and finally "Bermuda" in 
honor of the discoverer. 

Modern steamship catalogues alluringly an- 
nounce to prospective voyagers that this summer 
land is a "perpetual June for lotus-eaters" where 
"Atlantic waves that roll by Boston crested with 
snowflakes, break with warmth and crystal clear- 
ness on this crescent of rock." The approach- 
ing traveller perceives square, white-washed lime- 
stone houses gleaming through a screen of green 
junipers, whose roots are strong enough to pene- 
trate the underlying soft white coral rock. This 
porous rock, hardening upon exposure, is sawed out 
of the hills and used for building. It is friable and 

^ Vide Shakespeare's Tempest, which was suggested by Wil- 
liam Strachey's narrative of his shipwreck at Bermuda, i6io. 
"Still- vexed Bermuthes." 

[ 352 ] 



chief Justice of the Bermudas 

makes a smooth, dazzling road. The newcomer 
sees semi-tropical flowers blooming in the lan- 
guorous atmosphere — poncianas, bougainvillaeas, 
poinsettias, lantanas, night-blooming cereus, olean- 
ders, — many imported since Leonard's day. 
The fecundity of nature produces a wealth of 
quickly maturing vegetation which rapidly decays 
— and the vegetable life typifies also that of the 
human family in the tropics. Along the wayside 
are pawpaws, palmettos, cocoanuts, tamarinds, 
mangrove, and fiddle trees. Crakes, blue herons, 
sea-swallows, cardinals, and other birds of bril- 
liant plumage flash across the sapphire sky; ex- 
quisite submarine flowers, mosses, and iridescent 
fish are seen through the transparent water from 
glass-bottomed boats. At Easter, a sea of lilies 
waves in beauty and fragrance; and still more 
insistent in perfume are acres of Bermuda onions. 
The black faces of half the inhabitants are set off 
by the red coats of the English soldiers, who are 
an eighth part of the permanent population of 
22,000. The capital, now Hamilton, was formerly 
St. George's. During Leonard's residence this 
change of location was effected, possibly hastened 
by the plague of rats which infested the old state 
buildings.^ 

^ Governor Cockburn was said to have received a gift of 
four thousand dollars for his "influence" in bringing about 
the change. 

[ 353 ] 



Two Men of Taunton 



Hither, then, came Leonard, in his early for- 
ties to spend his mature years. Presiding as Chief 
Justice for thirty years over this checker board 
population, he came to be known to all as he 
sauntered over the island, returning with his bam- 
boo cane the salute of a Lord High Admiral, or 
a colored market-woman crying her wares as she 
balanced her basket of lemons, guavas, and cus- 
tard apples on her head, while pickaninnies clung 
to her apron. His residence was a low, flat-roofed 
stone house, with heavy wooden shutters, nestled 
among orange, banana, mulberry, and olive trees. 
Under the corner eaves stood a hogshead to catch 
the precious rain-water; in his back yard he 
raised annually three crops of vegetables, using 
flsh and seaweed for dressing. A corner of the 
garden was devoted to tobacco for his own use. 
The staring white of his house was relieved by 
scarlet blossoms which he could clip for a New 
Year's boutonniere. It was a new world for his 
family, with many sights to captivate them. His 
children drove about the island in basket-carts 
with darkey boys to accelerate the docile, dilatory 
donkey; visited the sand glaciers at Elbow Bay 
and the "Admiral's Grotto" of fantastic archi- 
tecture, where hang long stalactites from which 
geologists have computed that the island is 600- 
000 years old; bathed in the clear ocean water in 
nooks sheltered from sharks; paddled out in cedar 
[ 354 ] 



chief Justice of the Bermudas 

canoes to look down on the brilliant angel-fish 
and catch shimmering Portuguese men-of-war, 
or sailed farther around the long-wrecked hulks 
of treasure-laden Spanish galleons; and at night 
saw the phosphorescence of the stagnant salt la- 
goons, and heard the mocking-bird pour out his 
melodies under the enchanting moonlight. Little 
variation marked the routine from one year's end 
to another. 

We may picture to ourselves the judge as he 
rises at the daybreak screams of the kittiwakes, and 
breakfasts on goat's milk, figs, bonito, and sweet 
potatoes. He takes a morning walk up to the 
lighthouse to look for new sails in the ofRng, or 
a chance whale in the harbor. Then sweating un- 
der a heavy, many-curled, flaxen wig, he presides 
with dignity on the Supreme Bench, as the patch- 
work of black and white humanity sits in proper 
awe while he delivers the decree in civil, criminal, 
or admiralty cases. After his midday siesta, his 
daughter Harriet tucks a japonica in his lapel, as, 
dressed in white linen, he goes out to enjoy an 
afternoon game in the shade of a spice-laden tree, 
with his friends, perhaps Tom Moore or Miss 
Fanny Tucker, "The Rose of the Isles," as Moore 
addressed her. After a ceremonious dinner, he 
lights a long pipe and learns the news from the 
newly established local gazette, or from incoming 
vessels which bring the latest advices concerning 

[ 355 ] 



Two Men of Taunton 



the monster Napoleon against whom his country 
is contending. And so ends his day. 

On Sunday he attends with his family the old 
Church of St. Peter's, built before the Mayflower 
landed at Plymouth, but retaining its original 
cedar timbers still sound. In the next family pew 
are the Brownes, who have presented a silver 
communion service to this church. Leonard's 
social life was passed much in the company of 
Governor Browne, who, in former days in Salem, 
had been also of the Massachusetts landed gen- 
try, and to whom, in recognition of his ability and 
station, flattering oifers were made to hold him 
to the American cause. Browne was graduated 
from Harvard the year before Leonard entered, 
but they were well known to each other, and both 
were among the Mandamus Councillors. Madam 
Leonard's sister and her husband, Andrew Caz- 
neau, made their home at Bermuda several years. 
Thomas Moore, the poet, was given a berth 
there as Recorder, and for a while his calabash 
tree was a favorite centre of social gayety. The 
officers of shifting regiments and of the warships 
which touched at Bermuda kept the social com- 
plexion changing. Leonard's daughters were 
married to visiting officers, one to Captain John 
Smith, from Antigua, another to Captain Stewart, 
an officer of the customs, with whom she soon 
went to live in London. From this pier sailed 

[ 356 ]' 



Chief Justice of the Bermudas 

away Leonard's son, Charles, a college mate of 
Paine's sons, to attempt a course at Harvard. 
Then came the day, in 1806, when his wife, en- 
feebled by the Bermuda dampness, waved her 
last good-bye from a home-bound vessel and 
faded from his sight forever. 

Leonard's circuit at Bermuda was not so wide 
as that which led Judges Paine and Dana into ill- 
humor. Although there are as many islands as 
days in the year, the whole area of the Bermudas 
is less than twenty square miles — not more than 
the original Taunton when it included Leonard's 
birthplace. Imagine Taunton a colony with full 
governmental machinery — Governor, Chief Jus- 
tice, Senate, and Assembly, postage stamps. 
There were living at St, George's descendants of 
the Indians sold by Massachusetts into slavery 
after King Philip's death. One of these, Jacob 
Minors, so named from his ancestors' master, was 
a noted pilot, with whom the Chief Justice may 
have had acquaintance on the score that his an- 
cestors and Philip's braves were cordial friends. 
Taunton vessels occasionally put into Bermuda 
bringing salt herring, lumber, and pottery; they 
took back potatoes, onions, cedar boats, and cocoa- 
nuts. Leonard, sighting the topsails of some famil- 
iar ship, would impatiently wait at the dock, to 
question the skipper about Taunton affairs. Occa- 
sionally, he received a letter from his former as- 
[ 357 ] 



Two Men of Taunton 



sociates, Dr. Baylies, Judge Wheaton, his cousin 
George, and, let us hope, his father at Christmas- 
time sent down a barrel packed with venison, 
cob-smoked ham, nuts, and apples grown on the 
Norton farm; for the judge's palate was not 
wholly satisfied with such native delicacies as 
ripe figs served in sugar and cream, or pomegran- 
ates mellowed in Madeira wine. In the heat of 
summer, his fastidious appetite may have been 
checked by a small army of ants marching across 
his table, or the giant spider nimbly dancing along 
the ceiling. He claimed that provisions in Ber- 
muda were four times as expensive as in England, 
and that his table alone annually cost £600. 
During the long war between France and Eng- 
land, it was supplied by contraband goods brought 
in by Yankee vessels. 

The greatest trouble of his insular life was the 
inadequate means for decent existence. His dif- 
ficulties in this matter do not surprise us, for from 
his sixteenth year he apparently had much dif- 
ficulty to keep his expenses within his income. His 
appeal to the Crown was more distressing and in- 
sistent than that of Paine to Governor Hancock. 
His salary of £360 had been continued, as if he 
were still a Boston Solicitor of Customs, and £200 
(the salary of a Mandamus Councillor) was added 
for the "American suff'erer." To these his emolu- 
ments as Chief Justice and incidental fees brought 

[358] 



chief Justice of the Bermudas 

£300 more, but the total was inadequate to his 
notions of Hving. For twenty years he was much 
occupied in representing what a financial disas- 
ter was involved in his loyalty to King George. 
In 1784, after collecting data, he sailed away to 
England, secured audience with Lord George 
Germaine, who, as Secretary for the colonies, 
presented Leonard's claim in a long memorial.^ 

^ To the Right Honorable the Lords Commissioners of his 

Majestys Treasury. 
The Memorial of Daniel Leonard, Chief Justice of Bermuda 
Humbly sheweth 

That there is no Salary annexed to the office he has the honor 
to hold, and that all the Emoluments arising from it do not 
exceed £300 per Annum; in consequence of which no professional 
person has ever held it for any time. 

That Government having been repeatedly requested to make 
some Provision for the Administration of Justice in Bermuda, 
the Right Honorable Lord Viscount Sackville, when Secretary 
of State for the American department, was pleased to propose 
that the Memorialist, who had been regularly educated to the 
profession of the Law, should be appointed the Chief Justice. 

That the Memorialist, understanding that the appointment 
was not lucrative and that the expenses of maintaining a Family 
at Bermuda are much greater than in England, took the liberty 
to offer his Services, provided the amounts of his Office of Sollici- 
tor of the American Customs, which were £360 per Annum 
and the allowance of £200 as a Councillor of the late Province 
of Massachusetts Bay, both of which had been given him for 
his sufferings as an American Loyalist, and both of which he 
then held as Sine Cures, might be made certain. 

That his Lordship was pleased to say that he considered the 
offer as reasonable, and by an official Letter recommended to the 
Lords Commissioners of the Treasury to give such directions 
as should be necessary for carrying the proposal into effect. 

[ 359 ] 



Two Men of Taunton 



After visiting his scattered friends, Leonard re- 
turned to Bermuda, with assurance of obtain- 
ing a moiety of his claim. Sitting in "this Eng- 
Hsh garden at New York's front doorstep," he 

The Memorialist having lately waited upon Lord Viscount 
Sackville, his Lordship was pleased to say that he well recollects 
the official transaction to have been as here stated, and that 
he will signify the same, whenever he should be desired. 

The Lords of the Treasury upon taking the above-mentioned 
Letter into Consideration, made an Order that the Memorialists 
Office of SoUicitor should cease, and that he should be paid 
annually its amount, being £360, in addition to his allowance of 
£200 as a Councillor, being in the whole £560 per Annum by 
Mr. Rowe, which order appears by the Treasury Books. 

Upon the faith and credit of this Establishment the Memorial- 
ist purchased a Law Library and made all the provision neces- 
sary for removing his Family, which then consisted of eight 
persons, to Bermuda and taking upon him the duties of the ap- 
pointment. Not being able to get a passage directly to Ber- 
muda, he was obliged to make several Voyages, and to reside 
with his Family several Months at different Islands in the West 
Indies at an expense scarcely credible. At Bermuda he took a 
Lease of an House for four years; repaired and furnished it, and 
made the necessary provision for living there. The doing of all 
which has been attended with an expence exceeding his estab- 
lishment near four fold, owing to the extravagant price that 
every thing bears in the West Indies, and more especially at 
Bermuda in War-time; But he looked forward with pleasure to 
the reduction of expences that peace should bring with it, to 
enable him to fulfil his engagements, having been obliged to 
draw a large sum of Money on the credit of it. The attentions 
shewn him by the Inhabitants rendered his situation in other 
respects agreeable, and he trusts his public Conduct has not 
been reprehensible. 

In December, the Memorialist received advices that Govern- 
ment had directed an Enquiry to be made into the Claims of such 

[360] 



chief Justice of the Bermudas 

watched the upgrowth of the American nation. 
Was the canker of regret gnawing at his bosom to 
think that he was not a part of this infant giant? 
Twenty-five years after his expulsion from Mass- 

of the American Loyalists as had allowances made them, in 
order to make a reduction, and until that was done it was 
probable that no future payments would be made. 

Apprehensive that his Claims would be not fully known un- 
less he was present, and fearing that his Bills would come back 
and his creditors, that had supplied him with money on the 
credit of his establishment, be uneasy, he thought it prudent 
to come directly to England. 

Upon requesting his Excellency Governor Browne to grant 
leave of absence for a short time he expressed a readiness to do 
it provided some provision should be made for the Administra- 
tion of Justice in the meantime. The Memorialist accordingly 
entered into an Agreement in Writing to make a compensation 
to Judge Burch, on whom the Business devolves, and obtained 
his Excellency's leave of absence for a few Months. 

Before the Memorialist arrived in England the Commissioners 
appointed for examining the claims of the American Loyalists, 
had taken his case into consideration, and reported a reduction 
of £260 from the £560, leaving only £300 to be paid in future, 
and upon giving him a very long and candid hearing were pleased 
to say, that they (had) not made nor could with propriety make 
him an allowance in consideration of his Claims as Chief Jus- 
tice of Bermuda, their Examination being from the nature of the 
appointment restricted to the Claims of American Loyalists 
as such, and therefore they did not see any reason for altering 
the report already made. 

The Memorialist does not ask for an additional allowance for 
the unforeseen and unavoidable expence that attended his 
carrying his Family to Bermuda, and making a Settlement there 
in War-time, as he engaged to do it in Consideration of his Salary 
which was then promised — Nor for the total derangement of 
his affairs in being obliged suddenly to leave the Island — nor 

[361 ] 



Two Men of Taunton 



achusetts (halter penalty now forgotten), he 
sailed away for the old home to see his son, 
Charles, settle his father's estate, and clasp hands 
once more with former comrades. Much like Rip 
Van Winkle, he found a new order of things. 
Changes stood out vividly. No longer under 
English rule, a thoroughly republican govern- 
ment was established, with his old friend, Adams, 
at the helm. At the time of this visit in 1799, 
England and France were at war, and it was 
hazardous to traverse the high seas. A parting 

for the expences attending his coming to England and returning 
to Bermuda although he apprehends he has an Equitable Claim 
thereto — But he trusts your Lordships candour will excuse his 
claiming from the faith of Government the performance of a 
Stipulation which was then made to him in continuing the pro- 
vision of £560 per Annum in some proper mode, unless the 
Memorialist has been so unfortunate as to have deviated from 
the line of his duty. 

Your Lordships Memorialist therefore humbly prays that, 
such a Salary may be annexed to the Office of Chief Justice of 
Bermuda, as shall be sufficient to support the dignity of his 
Majestys Commission and shall be an Equivalent to the reduc- 
tion made from his before mentioned allowance. 

And the Memorialist as in duty bound shall ever pray, etc. 

[Endorsed] 

March 23d At the desire of Mr. Leonard, I certify that the 
1784 agreement made with him respecting his allow- 

ance upon his going out Chief Justice to the Island 
of Bermuda is accurately stated in this Memorial, and I farther 
Certify that his conduct whilst I was in office justly entitled him 
to the Confidence and Protection of Government. 

Sackville. 

[362] 



Chief Justice of the Bermudas 

letter written to President Adams, whom he 
visited, illustrates the courtliness of the Judge.'- 

N. York, 30 June 1799. 
Dear Sir: 

Will you permit me to address you in the stile 
of our former familiarity? My heart recognises all 
its former friendship, and I flatter myself you some- 
times recollect with pleasure our professional in- 
timacy. I had promised myself the honor of again 
waiting on you before I returned to Bermuda, but 
was obliged to come to this city with all diligence 
in order to avail myself of a passage in an armed 
vessel recommended by Governor Beckwith. My 
son will have the honor of delivering this. My re- 
spects. If you please, to your lady. 

I am with the highest esteem and respect, 
Your most humble Servant, 

Daniel Leonard. 

To His Excellency, John Adams, 

President of the United States. 

He found his Cousin George and brother-in- 
law Baylies, members of the National Congress. 
The latter speaks of riding with him toward 
Bridgewater, where they separated at the fork of 
the road, as Daniel wished once more to look on 
his birthplace and the tombs of his parents at 

^ It would be gratifying to know if Adams, who had written 
that he would "hang his own brother if he went against him," 
had cooled down as President, and greeted Leonard with re- 
ciprocal warmth of feeling. 

[363 ] 



Two Men of Taunton 



Mansfield. At Taunton he was a guest, in his old 
home, of his former office-boy, now Judge Padel- 
ford. The tender grace of days gone by came back 
to him as he looked out with a sigh upon Taunton 
Green. We see him visiting (in the house where he 
was first married) the patriotic mother of his wife, 
now nearly a century old, whom he tells of her 
married granddaughter. We see him at the grave 
of his first wife, pulling away the briers and 
lichens to read anew the inscription on the flat 
tombstone. Again he steps into the court-house 
where he was wont to plead and argue. Again he 
visits the tavern and drinks a toddy in memory 
of auld lang syne. Again he rides to Boston, re- 
cognizing a few acquaintances. Did he meet Judge 
Paine .^ Did these rivals of other days, their hair 
now streaked with gray, bury past grievances, 
clasp hands warmly in their mature dignity, and 
laugh over early struggles, as they exchanged their 
varied experiences } Did they meet, or did they 
carefully avoid meeting? 

He repeated this westward visit in 1808, and a 
few years later, gathering together his household 
goods and now slender family, he sailed eastward 
to London, there "to husband out life's taper to 
the close." His active work was ended and on 
the honor roll of his American Alma Mater he 
stands for posterity as "Chief Justice of Ber- 
muda." 

[364] 



THE LEAN AND SLIPPERED 
PANTALOON 



Chapter XXIII 
A Family of Bostonians 

Solid men of Boston, make no long orations 
Solid men of Boston, banish strong potations. 

Charles Morris. 

A FTER several years' residence in Taunton, 
/-\ Leonard had established himself as the 
-*^ -^ most favored citizen, when suddenly, in 
the fitfulness of Fate, bullets came pricking 
through his window-panes (unmistakable hint of 
a fall In the esteem of his fellow-townsmen), and 
he hurriedly repaired to Boston. On the other 
hand, Paine, claiming Taunton as his home for 
nineteen years, returned to Boston with the high- 
est regard of his townsmen, who by common con- 
sent ranked him as the foremost citizen of the Old 
Colony. With other families from the rural coun- 
ties, he went to weave new strands into the social 
fabric of the metropolis, since the ante-Revolu- 
tionary aristocracy had mostly taken French 
leave. The Cabots, Pickerings, Jacksons, Lowells, 
Grays, HIgginsons, Parsons, Ameses, Sulllvans, 
Prescotts, were among the new inner circle of so- 
ciety. Although his statue stands In Taunton (his 
residence when he reached the pinnacle of his 
fame), Paine was a thoroughbred Bostonian, and 

[ 367 ] 



Two Men of Taunton 



passed sixty years on that smug little Puritan 
peninsula. 

The exacting duties of Attorney-General com- 
pelled him to spend much of his time away from his 
wife, who only learned of his intention of remov- 
ing to Boston through a third person. She writes: 

Taunton, March 8, 1780. 

My dear husband : The report is here that you 
have bought a house in Boston. I tell them I sup- 
pose you mean to have two wives — one for Taun- 
ton, and one for Boston. 

Paine moved his household goods to his newly 
purchased house at the southeast corner of Milk 
and Federal Streets, opposite the present Boston 
Post-Office, in April, 1780. This house, pur- 
chased of Colonel John Amory, a Boston mer- 
chant, was once owned by Governor Shirley. It 
was a large, two-storied brick dwelling with gam- 
brel roof; in the spacious rear garden was the 
kitchen with its jack and turnspit. The location 
was in the middle of the town. The North End 
had become the resort of the ebb-tide aristocracy, 
and fashion was working around to the east and 
south of Beacon Hill. Paine's new home was not 
in the most healthful quarter, for salt water flowed 
up to the next square, and imperfect drainage com- 
pelled occasional bailing from the cellar; perad- 
venture also setting afloat the ten barrels of cider 

[368] 




SAM ADAMS 



A Family of Bostonians 

which he annually stored to promote the socia- 
bility of winter evenings. When his not-distant 
neighbors, Gushing, Quincy, Gardner, Wendell, 
Sam Adams, or Bowdoin, dropped in after supper, 
young Robert was sent down cellar to fill the 
pitcher, while the guests talked the evening away 
over current events and the Attorney-General's 
business. 

The walls of this Boston home echoed with the 
laughter and play of a houseful of lively child- 
ren; the first-born, christened Robert Treat, was 
graduated from Harvard in 1789, and died at 
Boston, July 28, 1798, unmarried. The second 
child, Sally, named for her mother, was born in 
1772, and died, unmarried, in January, 1825. The 
third child, commonly known as the "poet," 
was called "Thomas" after his Grandfather 
Paine. Upon the death of the older brother, 
Thomas petitioned the Legislature that he "might 
have a Christian name," as he expressed it, and 
assume that of the deceased Robert Treat. He 
was not ashamed of his grandparent, but a new 
Thomas Paine had arisen, the author of that un- 
orthodox volume, "The Age of Reason." We 
may reasonably believe, however, that family 
pride had as much to do with the affair as hatred 
of heterodoxy. Robert Treat was the name of the 
boy's great-great-grandfather, who was a gover- 
nor of Connecticut. Paine the Signer, was given 

[369] 



Two Men of Taunton 



his name of Robert Treat (which an eadier son 
of his parents, who died in infancy, had also borne), 
after his mother's brother, Robert Treat, who 
had died without issue. Nature seemed deter- 
mined that the name should pass out of existence, 
but the family, stoutly protesting, overruled her 
wishes.^ 

This boy, born in Taunton, rolled his marbles 
and played hobby-horse with his mates around 
Taunton Green, until he went to Boston at six 
years of age. During his four years at Harvard, 
he won a membership in the Phi Beta Kappa and 
shone as a scholar in Latin, Greek, and the mother 
tongue. When some doggerel lines rehearsing the 
peculiarities of certain professors were found 
scribbled on the basement walls and traced to 
Paine, he was duly hailed by his fellow-students 
as a coming laureate. After his graduation, he ob- 
tained a position as clerk in a counting-house. 
Instead of figures of trade, the caged poet made 
his day-book entries in verse and once made out 
a legal document in rhyme. Mr. James Tisdale, 
his employer, while he may have admired genius, 
was loath to reward it liberally and the young 
man soon found himself struggling on the foot- 
hills of Parnassus with an empty purse. However, 
his compassionate father supplied him with the 

^ Recently there have been litigious relations between two 
Robert Treat Paines due to their duplicate names. 

[ 370 ] 



A Family of Bostonians 

funds to start a semi-weekly journal, the " Federal 
Orrery," as an outlet for his enthusiasm. The 
youth translated "Phsdo"; and carried on a 
literary antiphony in a magazine, the " Seat of the 
Muses," with Mrs. Perez Morton, the leading blue- 
stocking of Boston, nicknamed the "American 
Sappho." In search of copy, he was a frequent 
visitor to the green room to commune with "foot- 
light favorites." 

His marriage, February 17, 1795, to Miss Baker, 
an actress, daughter of the proprietor of the thea- 
tre near b}^, for a time alienated his father, but 
stimulated the son's love for poetry and the drama. 
That year he gave birth to a poem, "The Inven- 
tion of Letters," which, after delivery at Harvard 
College (for degree of A.M.) was published, and 
netted the unprecedented sum of ^1500. This was 
followed by "The Ruling Passion." The fifth 
stanza of his popular song entitled "Adams and 
Liberty," which was sung all over the country, 
in theatre and shop, to the tune of "Anacreon in 
Heaven," was produced under unusual circum- 
stances. Benjamin Russell, the editor of the Bos- 
ton "Centinel," on examining the original manu- 
script suggested the insertion of Washington's 
name. Paine (always addicted to wine) reached 
for a glass of inspiration, but Russell stayed his 
hand until he should compose the suggested stanza, 
which Paine forthwith produced as follows: 
[ 371 ] 



Two Men of Taunton 



Should the tempest of war overshadow our land, 
Its bolts could ne'er rend Freedom's temple asunder, 
For, unmoved, at its portal would Washington stand. 
And repulse with his breast the assaults of the thunder! 
His sword from the sleep 
Of its scabbard would leap. 

And conduct with its point every flash to the deep! 
For ne'er shall the sons of Columbia be slaves 
While the earth bears a plant or the sea rolls its waves. 

This poetic son outshone the patriotic father 
In contemporary distinction. At twenty-seven 
years of age, he promised to taboo "wine, women, 
and song," and gave himself seriously to the study 
of law with Theophllus Parsons at Newburyport. 
He was admitted to the bar at Boston In 1802. 
His son, Robert Treat, and a daughter died within 
four days of each other. In March, 1802. The 
father's heart, touched by his poverty and be- 
reavement, welcomed to his home the prodigal 
son. There he died at the age of thirty-eight. As 
he lay in the attic, Gilbert Stuart came and made 
a death-mask of his face from which to paint his 
portrait. 1 

^ One moral of this poet's life is set forth in a recent article 
by William Winter: "It was my fortune, when I was a student 
of the Dane Law School of Harvard University, to win the fa- 
vorable notice of that honored professor, Theophilus Parsons, 
and to be treated very kindly by him. On one occasion, after 
his morning lecture had ended, he called me into his study and 
imparted to me some serious advice. 'I am sorry,' he said, 'to 
observe that you are turning your attention to literature. I 

[ 372 ] 



A Family of Bostonians 

James H. Paine, son of the poet, was an eccen- 
tric character, having but two aims in life — 
music and money. He never married, but spent 
his Hfe in apparent poverty. Upon his death, Mr. 
Chickering, of piano-forte fame, recalled a pack- 
age that some time before Mr. Paine had left 
with him for deposit in his safe. With little 
thought of its having value, he opened the brown 
paper package, and to his astonishment, found 
that it contained securities to the amount of four 
hundred thousand dollars. Litigation over a 
forged will ended in a decision in favor of the Paine 
relatives. 

Charles Paine, the fourth son of the Signer, was 
graduated at Harvard in 1793. He married the 
niece of William Gushing (associate Judge with 
his father), and died in 1801. It is from this 
Charles that the present Boston line of Paines is 
descended. Robert Treat Paine, son of Charles, 
having no children, gave his affection to the hea- 

have seen your poems in the newspapers. Don't think of living 
by your pen. Stick to the law! You will be an excellent lawyer. 
You will have a profession to depend on. You can make your 
own way. You can have home and friends. Stick to the law! 
I once knew a brilliant young man — Paine was his name — 
who started much as you have done. He might have had a 
prosperous and happy life. He had much ability. But he left 
the law. He took to writing. They had him here and there and 
everywhere with his poems. He was convivial; he wasted his 
talents; and he sank into an early and a rather dishonored 



grave.' " 



[ 373 I 



Two Men of Taunton 



venly bodies and his wealth to Harvard College 
for astronomical purposes. 

Henry, born in 1777, became a merchant navi- 
gator and died June, 18 14. 

Mary, the sixth child, born in 1780, married 
the Rev. Mr. Clapp, and died in 1842. 

Marie Antoinette was born in 1782, when the 
French sympathies of her father were strong. 
She was married to Deacon Greele and died in 
1842. 

Lucretia, the youngest of the children, born in 
1785, lived unmarried with her parents, and died 
in 1823. 

Paine, going with morning market-basket to 
Faneuil Hall, would meet such friends as Peter 
Brooks, Benjamin Bussey, Harrison Gray Otis, 
General Lincoln, Thomdike, Salisbury, Paul 
Revere, Dr. Eustis, Oliver Wendell, the Quincys, 
George Cabot, or Jedidiah Morse. These gentle- 
men, members of the Federal party, often sat 
down to a hearty dinner together at three o'clock, 
and discussed the news of the day over their 
Madeira. Paine strongly favored the adoption of 
the Federal Constitution both in his writings 
and discussions. Interested in national affairs, 
he read the Boston "Advertiser," the Philadelphia 
"Ledger," the New York "Gazette," and attended 
the debates of the Essex Junto. He used his in- 
fluence in support of the administrations of Wash- 
[ 374 ] 



A Family of Bostonians 

ington and Adams; and advocated with zeal and 
ability their measures of government during the 
critical period of 1794. It grieved him to see the 
Federal party dissolving under the ascendancy of 
Jefferson and his Democratic principles. Paine 
upheld Hancock and Adams, but opposed his 
other fellow-signer, Elb ridge Gerry. ^ He did not 
believe the Republican principles essential to the 
best welfare of his country and joined those who 
endeavored, unsuccessfully, to defeat Gerry for 
Governor and Vice-President. In 1793 Paine 
was present at the mammoth banquet held in 
State Street in sympathy with the revolutionists 
of France, when joints of beef were tossed up to 
the ladies in the balconies. 

Paine was glad to meet again, in 1789, his 
earlier acquaintance, George Washington, when 
he made his fam.ous visit to Boston as President. 
He witnessed the celebration upon the adoption 
of the Constitution, when an old boat, symbol 
of the former ship of state, was burned on Boston 
Common. One night in 1790, he was aroused to 
find that his boyhood home on Beacon Hill was 
going up in flames; and, as Judge, he might have 
delivered the sentence by which the colored in- 
cendiary was executed for arson. In the summer 

^ Paine applauded when Gerry stated, "If a man had but one 
day to live, he should devote that day to the service of his 
country." 

[ 375 ] 



Two Men of Taunton 



of 1 806 he was shocked by the fatal assault in State 
Street, upon the editor of a Republican paper by 
an enraged Federalist. 

During Paine's Indian summer days, he kept 
his hand on current affairs; worked in his garden; 
attended town meetings ; followed the fortunes of 
his friends, Adams and Jefferson, and was a guest 
at many dinner parties in the Hancock mansion.^ 
When, in the sailors' war of 18 12, privateersmen 
returned with a trophy of their daring. Judge 
Paine, though not in active sympathy with the 
war, was ready to review the public parade. He 
had a part in the celebrations of Hull's capture 
of the Guerriere. Independence Day, Paine and 
Adams walked together in the parade, to arouse 
enthusiasm by their presence and bring back the 
spirit of '76, Paine taking two steps to Adams's 
three. In 1795, after the Legislature had repealed 
the act against playhouses, giving legal sanction 
to those who wished to attend the play in the 
garb of respectability, we find Judge Paine at the 
theatre which stood beyond his back fence, en- 
ticed to the unwonted place presumably by the 
irresistible charms of his actress daughter-in-law. 

1 These dinner parties were sometimes hurriedly prepared. 
Mr. Paine's cow, which was daily driven to and from the Com- 
mon, was probably one of those which Madam Hancock 
ordered to be milked to supply her requirements upon the 
sudden announcement that a party of distinguished Frenchmen 
was to grace her table one evening. 

[376] 



A Family of Bostonians 

In personal appearance, Judge Paine was tall 
and thin, with sparkling black eyes and hair 
shading to ferruginous. He was a strong, earnest 
speaker, though not reaching the heights of elo- 
quence : 

A voice of deep bass, and a serious if not stern 
expression of countenance, gave him an appear- 
ance of greater severity than he possessed. He had 
kind feelings and a strong relish of humor, though 
with this peculiarity — that his appreciation of it 
was not quick, and the report of his laugh was not 
heard till the flash of the jest had entirely vanished, 
says Wheelor Tudor. ^ 

In all sketches of him there Is reference to his wit; 
when, however, we search for a good specimen, 
we hardly find one worth recording beyond those 
already given. The gray mare was the better 
horse when it came to levity of correspondence. 
From John Adams's records, we infer that he was 
not greatly given to dealing in gentle humor, 
which people enjoy and repeat, but used his 
barbed wit to wound his associates. 

At a festival in Boston, Judge Paine, ever re- 
curring to his ministerial days, gave this toast: 

^ Paine's grandson wrote of his maternal grandsire Gushing 
that "his head was full of good ideas, but you required a beetle 
and wedge to get them out"; possibly he held the same opinion 
of his paternal grandparent. 

[ 377 ] 



Two Men of Taunton 



Great Britain — May that Nation which stood 
the Friend of Liberty when Liberty had no other 
Friend among the Nations be refined and confined 
and remain the Joachim while the United States 
of America stands the Boaz of true Political and 
Social Liberty, until Sun and Moon shall set no 
more. 

This toast is rather cumbrous in contrast to 
the lighter lines given by his son to the comely 
Miss Fowle of Watertown: 

To the fair of every town 

And to the Fowle of Watertown. 

From his chamber window, Paine could look 
across at the Old State Flouse in which he had con- 
ducted his Massacre trial, had served in the As- 
sembly, had sat as Judge. Above It, where as a 
boy he had gazed In admiration at the red banner 
of St. George, he saw fluttering the Stars and 
Stripes; and a thrill of pleasure came to him at 
the thought that he had borne an honorable part 
in this "consummation devoutly to be wished." 
He could see the spire of the Old South Church 
in which he was christened, and in which he spoke 
once in preaching days. On Beacon Hill, beyond 
his birthplace, he could see the dome of the new 
State House with its pleasing Bulfinch architect- 
ure and eagle column behind. He could take his 
cane and walk up to watch the erection of the 
[378 ] 



A Family of Bostonians 



new Park Street Church christened by Unitarians 
"Brimstone Corner"; or stroll around to the 
Exchange Coffee-House, where politicians gath- 
ered and to which the stage-coaches, crossing the 
narrow Roxbury Neck, br6ught passengers from 
all parts of New England, from New York, and 
the South. 

At threescore and ten, a man's life has filled 
the Scriptural measure. The tender leaves of hope 
are falling, leaving bare the boughs of youthful 
dreams. Old friends grow closer. We draw a pleas- 
ant picture of the old man sitting In quiet repose 
at his fireside, "lean and slippered," "with spec- 
tacle on nose," tobacco pouch at his side and ther- 
mometer on the doorpost, which was consulted 
punctually morning and evening. To the young 
fry the associations clustered about his name in- 
vested his presence with something of the awe ac- 
corded to the Roman Conscript Fathers. He was 
not one to put his wig on hindslde to and go down 
on all fours to make fun for the youngsters. Once 
at Christmas, a grandchild came bringing the 
dessert, and exclaiming, "See, grandpa! Even the 
jelly trembles in your presence!" It Is said that 
in his last years, a grandchild who cared for his 
horse allowed the animal to go three days without 
hay because he lacked the courage to report to 
his austere grandfather that the feed had given 
out. Another story handed down in the family 

[ 379 ] 



Two Men of Taunton 



tells how the old gentleman sold a horse having a 
white stocking and a few days afterward bought 
the horse back again thinking it a new one, the 
foot having been cleverly painted over by a mis- 
chievous jockey. 

On a May morning, the Judge was riding in his 
chaise near the "Punch Bowl Tavern" at Rox- 
. bury when a runaway horse came tearing down 
the road. Paine turned aside, but the runaway 
struck his wheel, upset the chaise and threw him 
into the street. He was extricated from under 
the vehicle and an examination of his injuries 
made by Dr. Edward Warren. It was found that 
no bones were broken ; but the shock to his aged 
body was severe, and a month later he writes that 
it "took him half an hour to get out of bed in 
the morning." ^ 

A scientific strain has always marked the family. 
Among the books listed under this name, nearly 
all relate to scientific matters. Four generations 
specialized in study of the stellar worlds. This 
penchant for astronomy is illustrated in the name 
which Robert Treat Paine, Junior, gave to his 
journal — "The Federal Orrery" — suggested by 
his father, who had seen the orrery invented by 
Rittenhouse at Princeton College. In his diary 
of sixty years, he always puts the zodiacal sym- 

^ Daniel Webster's infirmities were increased by being thrown 
from his chaise at Kingston. 

[380] 



A Family of Bostonians 

bols for each day of the week, and for the phases of 
moon, sun, and planets. A record in his journal 
reads : 

June i6, 1806. Fair and a fine clear sky. The pre- 
dicted total eclipse of the sun began at 10.05, ^ ^^^ 
minutes later than calculated. Thermometer went 
down ten degrees, a mighty gloom so that It was 
possible to see an object only at a small distance. 
Several stars appeared and pigeons flew homeward 
in a flock, chickens came home to roost. 

This was the eclipse forecasted by Paine's father 
seventy-five years before to within a "few min- 
utes" of exactness. 

Paine was scientific where Leonard was senti- 
mental. One of the keenest interests of his sun- 
set days was the American Academy of Arts 
and Sciences of which he and his brother-in-law, 
Cobb, were among the founders in 1780. His 
life naturally led up to this institution; he was a 
member of the board of management for thirty- 
four years. Before this society he presented his 
plan for making an inexpensive map of Massa- 
chusetts. He suggested that beacon fires be built 
on certain hills at intervals through the State and 
thus maps could be made with small expense by 
triangulation. 

Making water-wheels and mending clocks were 
congenial occupations to him, and, as we have 

[381 ] 



Two Men of Taunton 



already seen, he was interested in the manufacture 
of gunpowder. He surveyed not only highways, 
but when he first went as Judge to sit in Barn- 
stable County, gave much attention to the survey 
for the Cape Cod canal proposed in 1790. He 
was engaged in building the jail and court-house 
in Taunton, as well as his own home on Taunton 
Green. ^ 

An observant farmer at the age of fifteen, he 
writes of April, "This month in general has been 
fair growing weather, attended with fruitful show- 

* In a letter, written in 1792 to Theophilus Parsons at New- 
buryport, Paine says: "The present bogs and vapours of Ire- 
land, it seems, once were the meandering brook and serene 
sky of Calypso's Isle, and the heterogeneous inhabitants may 
have descended from the well-governed Island of Atlantis: nay, 
what is more, the people who now have to send to the wil- 
derness of America, the then (we vainly think) unknown world, 
for artisans, to build a bridge for them which would make no 
considerable figure on the monuments, and to erect a steeple 
of common size in our country villages, were the inventors of 
the most intricate games and gave rise to the most sublime 
sciences, — discoveries of this kind exceedingly enlarge the 
human mind and push us on more rapidly to discover mysteries 
that have long been buried in the oblivion of the ages. Doth it 
not tend to prepare our minds for that shock we might receive 
on being told that it was now fully discovered that the place 
of Paradise — the primaeval Garden of Eden so much and so 
vainly sought for by the learned heretofore, was on the Ohio 
near the junction of the river Muskingum, that the huge mounds 
of which so many conjectures have been made was the haunt of 
Adam and his family, that the savages are the flaming sword 
before the settlement of that country." 

[382] 



A Family of Bostonians 

ers and warm sunshine, so that in the latter end 
of the month, trees have blossomed forth and 
grass grown finely." After his removal to Boston 
we find the old sea-captain, Scott (who married 
the widow of John Hancock, to the mortifica- 
tion of her friends) giving him fruit trees brought 
from England — St. Germain pears, May Duke 
cherries, royal russets, golden pippins, green gage 
and Draper plums, St. Michael and Bergamot 
pear and peach trees. Within the walls of his 
Boston estate were raised many bushels of grapes 
to tempt predatory boys. 

The lot of old age is to bury one's friends. 

As life runs on the road grows strange 
With faces new; and near the end 
The milestones into headstones change, 
'Neath every one a friend. 

His journal records that he acted as pall-bearer 
to many of his associates, friends and neighbors. 
His family passed away one by one before him. 
Eunice Paine died in February, 1803, aged 69; 
Abigail Greenleaf, in December, 1808, at 83 years 
of age; his grandson and granddaughter, March 
8 and 12, 1802; his son, Robert, July 29, 1798; his 
son, Charles, February, 1810; his son, Robert 
(christened Thomas), November 12, 1812. 

At this period of his life it is well to review 
Paine's religious beliefs. We have seen how he 
joined the church in school-days; how in early 
[383 ] 



Two Men of Taunton 



manhood he examined the evidences of Christian- 
ity, and exercised his personal judgment trying 
to reconcile faith and reason. In 1760, he began 
to listen to the liberal views of Jonathan Mayhew, 
minister of the West Church in Boston, who had a 
strong influence in leading him to follow the star 
of soul liberty.^ In the trying of ministers, Paine 
was always critical. In 1768, he was one of the 
committee to ask Mr. Eliot, of Cambridge, to 
preach in Taunton. He went to Concord to se- 
cure William Emerson for the First Church in 
Boston in 1799. He was a lifelong attendant at 
church, sometimes visiting the Quaker meetings 
at Swansea, and while at Congress he writes of 
attending the Christmas services of the Mora- 
vian Church at Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. A 
touch of odium theologicum was upon him. He 
had a controversy with Pastor Barnum as to the 
baptism of his children born in Taunton. In 
April, 1779, he presented for baptism all his 
children at once to Rev. Mr. Turner, of Precinct 
Meeting-House. 

When Paine returned to Boston he took pew 
eleven in the Old Brick Church, now the First 
Church, on May 6, 1780. On March 2, 1783, he 

^ Mayhew had an aversion to oratory, which was increased 
by his antipathy to Whitefield and the Methodists, and led him 
to beseech God that he might never be an orator — a prayer 
which his enemies remarked had been fully granted. 

[384] 



A Family of Bostonians 

attended the Old South, then restored after Its 
wanton desecration by British soldiers. Paine 
became a typical Boston Unitarian ; listening with 
pleasure, in age, to Channing or William Em- 
erson; almost his last appearance in public was at 
the installation of Edward Everett as pastor of 
the fashionable Brattle Street Church In Feb- 
ruary, 1814. 



Chapter XXIV 

An Aged Exile in London 

Youth shall grow strong and great and free, 

But age must still decays 
To-morrow for the States — for me 

England and yesterday. 

Stevenson. 

LEONARD, isolated at Bermuda, saw the 
American Confederation mounting" strong 
and great and free." Like his sovereign, he 
gloried in the name of Briton, and had come to 
think of home as under the English flag; yet when 
he had reached that age which musters a man out 
of active service, he gave a longing look toward 
Massachusetts before turning back to "England 
and yesterday." His children, now thoroughly 
British, leaned strongly toward London. Leonard's 
father had bequeathed his estate to his son on 
condition that he should return to America as a 
citizen in good standing. But Daniel knew that 
he could not be an active part of the new nation, 
even if permitted to dwell unmolested. After the 
Revolution, opinion in the "States "was divided 
in regard to the Tories. Some felt that they were 
unjustly treated; that it was natural for them to 
adhere to the King; that the war being over, it 

[ 386 ] 



An Aged Exile in London 

was not the part of a Christian nation to hold 
hatred against them. They were still Americans 
of respectability, and the Patriots, now that free- 
dom was won, should let bygones be bygones and 
restore them to their former estates. Others held 
them as traitors, worse than the Indians, whom 
they had set against the colonists; thought they 
were most mercifully dealt with if permitted to 
go unhung; and that oblivion was a kindness to 
them. The thought of restoring their forfeited 
estates, or permitting them a share in the govern- 
ment which they had done their best to strangle 
in its cradle, was preposterous. So the glamour 
of the English throne still holds its sway with 
Leonard. 

Arrived In London, the Judge made his home 
with his maiden daughter, Harriet, at 53 Judd 
Street, Brunswick Square. His affairs centred at 
the Temple, where, full of wise saws and mod- 
ern Instances, he sat at the head of one of the 
tables at Commons, his fair round belly with 
good capon lined. His office was 22 Bellyard, 
Temple Bar. At this time, a young man was 
studying at the Temple by the name of Charles 
Lamb; if you would know the appearance of this 
great seething vortex of humanity into which 
Leonard came, a solitary drop, you will find it 
by the perusal of Ella's pages, in which some 
colonial squire will fill the measure of the Ber- 
[387] 



Two Men of Taunton 



muda judge. He had leisure and taste to appre- 
ciate the genius of the early nineteenth century — 
Tom Moore, Coleridge, and Lord Byron writing 
verses ; Flaxman making his celebrated statuettes; 
Turner dipping his brush in sunset colors; Scott 
building castles of romance; Bewick carving his 
fine wood cuts ; Cruikshank making comic pictures ; 
Gilroy caricaturing the Napoleonic monster; and 
Mrs. Siddons, winning applause upon the stage. 
Ballooning was a new experiment of which every 
one talked ; the velocipede was a novel hobby on 
which men of fashion were ludicrously striding 
through the street. 

One still midnight in January, 1820, the great 
bells of St. Paul's Cathedral tolled out the long- 
expected death of his Majesty, George III. Two 
years younger than the King, Leonard had served 
him zealously through his reign of sixty years. 
The monarch, having suffered an eclipse of reason, 
held no state levees which Leonard could attend, 
but he witnessed the royal ceremonies at the 
crowning of the sybarite, George IV. 

By the strange habit of age his mind wan- 
dered back through the kaleidoscopic scenes of 
life to the care-free, sunlit days of his boyhood 
home. Whenever he sat in the park, or tapped 
along the brick sidewalks with his cane, or visited 
his grandson, Doctor Stewart, — already giving 
promise of that eminence he later attained, — he 
[388] 




TEMPLE BAR, LONDON 



An Aged Exile in London 

found many a willing ear among the bare-kneed 
and petticoated children, to whom he rehearsed the 
stories of the black slaves "Robin" and "Caesar"; 
of rides through the pine forests; of bears, wild 
cats, the deer-park, the fox-hunts; of the mus- 
ters of the training-field, — these he babbled over 
to the joy of his open-mouthed audience. 

Of Leonard's family, his daughter born in 
Taunton was living in Antigua ; Sally, who mar- 
ried Captain Stewart, had a son named Leonard 
who became a distinguished physician in London. 
Judge Leonard's son, Charles, who had been at 
college with Paine's poet son, was a source of even 
more grief to his father than was Paine's son to 
him. When Ephraim Leonard died, in 1786, his 
son Daniel appointed Laban Wheaton, of Nor- 
ton, as trustee of his bank stocks and property 
holdings in America, and also as guardian of the 
son, Charles, whom he sent to Harvard from 
Bermuda in 1790. The son remained in America 
in order to inherit his grandfather's estate. Never 
mentally bright, the young man became dissi- 
pated, and was one of the rakes of Taunton as far 
as his allowance would permit. He was noted for 
his pride, assurance, and politeness — qualities 
very naturally inherited from his father. After 
participating in several parties, he decided to 
reciprocate the politeness of his friends by giving 
a grand dinner. He made costly and elaborate 
[389] 



Two Men of Taunton 



arrangements for a certain day, and sent invita- 
tions to the first gentlemen of the town. The 
dinner was a success; guests had a splendid time; 
Leonard's grand feast was the theme of comment 
and praise for many days. But in the course of 
some two weeks following, each individual guest 
was interviewed by Charles, and a loan of five 
dollars politely requested until he could get a re- 
mittance which was every day expected. After 
having enjoyed the hospitality of their friend so 
recently, the gentlemen could hardly refuse the 
small loan asked for, and the necessary funds were 
obtained in this manner to liquidate the expenses 
of his feast. He became such an annoyance that, 
in 1816, seven of the foremost citizens of Taunton 
petitioned to his guardian to have him confined 
in the county jail. A piteous correspondence be- 
tween him, his father, and his guardian during 
his incarceration is extant. In a fit of delirium 
tremens he attempted to end his life in the winter 
of 1 8 16-17. He was later confined in the McLean 
Asylum, but released upon improvement and 
taken in charge by a private family. After his 
father died, he went about the streets in a de- 
mented condition, repeating — "The Chief Justice 
of Bermuda is dead." In May, 183 1, he was found 
dead by the roadside as the result of a debauch. 
In considering Leonard's religious experience, 
we cannot conceive him petrified into a bigot. No 
[ 390 ] 



An Aged Exile in London 

record appears that he, Hke Paine, joined the 
church in youthful years, but we rest assured that 
his father, "very worshippefulle Ephraim Leon- 
ard," took the boy along with him to sit in the 
front pew, and being a man of eminent piety and 
religion, he doubtless often had the minister as 
guest. That worthy would not allow Daniel to 
forget the first precept of the old New England 
Primer, "In Adam's fall we sin-ned all." On Sun- 
day the boy may have committed to memory 
the Thirty-nine Articles of the Westminster 
catechism or have read Wiggleworth's "Day of 
Doom"; and he may not have been a stranger to. 
the warning touch of the hickory stick in the hands 
of the ti thing-man. Elder Hodges. Daniel Leon- 
ard's grandfather had been one of the chief agents 
in achieving the separation of Norton from Taun- 
ton in 171 1, in order that a new church might be 
built for the accommodation of those who walked 
(carrying their shoes in their hands for economy) 
ten miles to Taunton Meeting-House. Ephraim 
Leonard had been senior deacon in the church 
which Daniel attended in his youth. Daniel's 
aunt married Rev. Mr. Clapp, of Taunton. He 
had uncles and cousins among the clergy; in one 
family the four brothers were deacons. He occa- 
sionally came to Taunton to the second Meeting- 
House (built in 1727 and used until 1790, situated 
where the present Unitarian Church stands). 
[ 391 ] 



Two Men of Taunton 



But his thoughts — for through his Hfe Beauty 
was never divorced from Truth — may have wan- 
dered from the hereafter to the bright face of 
Anna White in her Sunday poke-bonnet and dim- 
ity furbelows. It was but in the natural course of 
events to find him drifting back to the pomp and 
ceremony of the English Church. To many of the 
positive, bishop-hating Pilgrim descendants such 
a course was an instance of the melon reverting to 
the gourd. 

Leonard was not the "Last of the Loyalists," 
for S. S. Blowers, who died in 1842 in New Bruns- 
wick, held that distinction, as the venerable 
Charles Carroll of Carrollton was known as the 
"Last of the Patriots." Leonard was the last of 
the Boston barristers and probably the last of the 
Massachusetts Tories exiled in England. His will, 
dated 1821, which may be seen at the Recorder's 
office in London upon payment of a shilling, gives 
fourteen thousand dollars for the support of his 
son, Charles, and the remainder of his property 
to his three daughters. His executors were his 
grandson, Leonard Stewart, and A. E. Searle. 
The will requested that the funeral be "'modest." 



LAST SCENE OF ALL 



Chapter XXV 

Passing of a Patriot 

Stirred up with high hopes of living to be brave men and worthy pa- 
triots, dear to God and famous to all ages. — Milton. 

JOHN QUINCY ADAMS, contemplating 
his own portrait in closing years, wrote be- 
neath it, "A life of sorrow and an age of 
storm." Reviewing the long series of life's mis- 
fortunes, disappointments, passions, temptations, 
duties, Paine might have concurred with Adams 
in these sentiments. He passed through the age 
of storm and bore his full share of life's unhappi- 
ness. The loss of property when a young man was 
a blessing in disguise. Makers of history with heart 
and mind filled with right purpose may do a large 
business on small financial capital. Though he 
left little money to his family, he was a notable 
example of diligence, frugality, honesty, and thrift. 
A glowing satisfaction came to him as he wrote 
to his friends, "I have served Massachusetts; 
no one can say that I have eaten the govern- 
ment bread in idleness." His was a life of forth- 
right duty, imbued with a sense of freedom which 
was ingrained in his character. His instincts were 
grounded on right and justice. Firm but not fana- 
[ 395 ] 



Two Men of Taunton 



tic In his beliefs, he bore onward the torch of 
Hberty Hghted by his Cape Cod forbears. 

Looking back to the dim figures of the past, 
when he reviewed his confreres who had signed 
the Declaration of Independence, they seemed to 
have reached more shining pinnacles of popular 
favor than he; — Hancock, President of the Con- 
gress, was Governor several terms, as was also 
Sam Adams ; Gerry had been Governor and Vice- 
President, while his lifelong friend, John Adams, 
whom he spoke of as a "numbskull and blunder- 
buss" in his hobbledehoy years, had become Pre- 
sident of the United States. In these reveries, 
did Leonard reappear upon the brain-screen, and 
did Paine think kindly of the old judge in Ber- 
muda f 

Whatever may be the value of Palne's services 
measured with those of his greater compatriots, 
it is sufficient title to lasting honor that he had a 
place among those who established the American 
nation, endorsing its credit and stability with his 
life, and that he was active In forming under it a 
commonwealth of acknowledged leadership. 

While gardening In May, 1814, he caught cold 
and took to his bed. Next day, he called for his 
will to add a codicil distributing his meagre es- 
tate in several items. Two days later, as Boston 
was welcoming Commodore Perry back from Lake 
Erie, Paine passed beyond as peacefully as the sun 

[396] 



Passing of a Patriot 



dies in the western sky on a summer evening. As 
he lay sleeping in his coffin, John Adams came to 
look on his silent face, and went home to write : 

Alas! the Massachusetts triumvirate is broken. 
Judge Paine is no more. An old German, Doctor 
Turner, when I was a little boy, asked me the age 
of my father. When I told him as well as I knew, 
"Alas! " said the old gentleman, "your father's age 
is so near my own, that, when one dies of old age, the 
other may quake for fear." If death were terrible to 
Gerry or to me, the death of Paine might make us 
quake for fear. 

His body was borne to its final resting-place 
but a few steps from his birthplace and lies in a 
wall tomb in the Old Granary Burying-Ground. 
The Sunday after his decease, a eulogy of Judge 
Paine was spoken in the First Church from the 
text: "He put on righteousness and it clothed 
him; his judgment was as a robe and a diadem." 

Thus Paine passed from his earthly labors; but 
his life did not end at the marble slab. So long 
as Young America shall continue to fire cannon, 
beat drums, ring bells, blow trumpets, and sing 
patriotic songs, the night before the Fourth, so 
long the name of Paine remains secure and im- 
mortal in the minds of his happy and grateful 
countrymen. 



Chapter XXVI 
Last of a Loyalist 

I feel like one who treads alone some banquet hall deserted. 

Moore. 

A LETTER, written by Daniel Leonard in 
his eighty-seventh year, closes with a fine 
depth of human feeling, giving an index 
to the heart of our aged exile. 

It is so late in the day with me that I shall hardly 
think of crossing the Atlantic again, tho' I some- 
times think of doing it that I may lie by the side of 
my father. I rejoice to think you have made Charles 
so comfortable. 

Yours truly, 

Daniel Leonard. 

The ties of his old home were tugging at his heart. 
Living with Harriet in one of the myriad, closely 
packed, brick houses in the heart of London, his 
chamber window opened within reach of a neigh- 
boring roof. In the summer of his ninetieth year, 
the old man thought he saw, during the watches 
of a night, a stealthy figure seeking entrance to 
his room through the open casement. The next 
evening he placed a loaded pistol where his hand 
could grasp it, and slept with one eye open for 

[398] 



Last of a Loyalist 



several nights without further alarm. Then one 
day a pistol-shot aroused the family. They has- 
tened up-stairs, burst into his room, and found 
the aged occupant groaning on the floor, while a 
wisp of smoke wreathed from the pistol on the 
coverlid. They lifted the body; bolstered it among 
the pillows; chafed the stiffening limbs. Was it 
accident? Was he drawing the pistol charge .f' Or 
was it felo de se ? The answer was hidden in the 
stertorous breathing, in the blood oozing from his 
vitals, the tear that rolled down the withered 
cheek, and the inarticulate murmur that bubbled 
from his lips. In the weariness of years he was 
crossing the silent seas, bound home. 

He's walk'd the way of nature; 
And to our purposes he lives no more. 



A CALENDAR OF LIVES 



A CALENDAR OF THE LIFE OF 
R. T. PAINE 

1694. Rev. Thomas Paine born. 
17 19. Ordained minister at Weymouth. 
1724. Marries Eunice Treat. 
173 1. Robert Treat Paine born, March 14. 
1738. Enters Boston Latin School. 
1745. Leaves Latin School for Harvard. 
1747. Eunice Paine (mother of Robert) dies in 
Boston, October 15. 

1749. Robert graduates from Harvard College. 

1750. Usher at Boston Latin School. 

175 1. Teaches school at Lunenburg. 
1752-3-4. Sea-captain; makes trips to Carolina, 

Europe, and Greenland. 
Quits sea November, 1754. 
1755. Minister at Shirley, Massachusetts. 

September i to December 31, Chaplain 
on Crown Point Expedition. 
1755-6-7. Studies law with Squire Willard at Lan- 
caster and Judge Pratt in Boston. 

1757. Admitted to the Boston Bar, May. 
Fatherdies, insolvent, at Weymouth, May. 

1758. Tries the law in Boston and Falmouth 

(now Portland). 
First mention in his diary of visiting 
Taunton. 
1761. Takes up residence in Taunton. 
1760-80. Practises law in southern Massachusetts. 

[ 403 ] 



Two Men of Taunton 



1768. Sent as delegate to Bernard's Conven- 

tion, Faneuil Hall, with James Williams. 
Moderator at Town Meeting, Taunton. 

1769. Surveyor of Highways, Taunton. 

1770. Marries in Attleboro, March 15, Sally 

Cobb, born 1744. 

Son Robert born. May 14. 

Boston Massacre Trial, October and No- 
vember. 

1 77 1. Builds a home northeast side of Taunton 

Green. 

1773-4-5-7. Elected to General Court of Mass- 
achusetts. 

1774-5-6. Delegate to Continental Congress, Phila- 
delphia. 

1776. Declines appointment to Supreme Bench 

of Massachusetts, 
Signs Declaration of Independence, July 4. 

1777. Speaker pro tern of Massachusetts Pro- 

vincial Assembly. 
Elected Attorney-General of Massachu- 
setts, August. 

1778. Family inoculated for smallpox by Dr. 

Cobb. 

1779. Children baptized by Rev. Mr. Turner. 
Thomas Cobb, Paine's wife's father, dies. 
Member of Constitutional Convention. 
Member of Council. 

1780. Declines appointment as Judge. 
Assists at framing Massachusetts Con- 
stitution. 



404 



A Calendar of Lives 



Moves to Boston, corner of Milk and 
Federal Streets, In April. 

A Founder of the American Academy of 
Arts and Sciences. 
1790. Accepts appointment to Supreme Bench. 
1804. Resigns judgeship. 

LL.D. Harvard. 

Elected to Governor's Council. 
181 1. Son Robert dies. 

Grandchild dies the same day. 
1814. Robert Treat Paine dies, Boston, May 14. 
1 8 16. His widow dies, Boston, June 6. 



A CALENDAR OF THE LIFE OF 
DANIEL LEONARD 

1706. Ephraim Leonard born in Norton. 

1739. Ephraim Leonard and Judith Perkins 

married. 

1740. Daniel Leonard born, Norton, May 30. 
Mother dies September 4. 

1750-56. Daniel studies with Rev. Mr. White. 
1756-60. At Harvard College. 
1760-5, Studies law. 

1763. Selectman of Norton. 

1766. Admitted to the Bar. 
Honorary degree at Yale. 

1767. Marries April 2, Anna White, born 1741. 

1768. Daughter Anna born, April 4. 
Anna White Leonard dies, April 4. 

1769. Daniel Leonard elected King's Attorney 

in place of Colonel White, deceased. 
1 769-70- 1 -3 -4. Elected to General Court. 

1770. Marries, March 4, at Boston, Sarah 

Hammock, born 1745. 

1774. Signs address to Hutchinson, May 30. 
Appointed Mandamus Councillor, Au- 
gust 16. 

Driven from Taunton by mob, August 21. 
1774-5. Writes "Massachusettensis Papers." 

1775. Solicitor of Customs for Port of Boston. 

1776. Leaves for Halifax with family, March 17. 
Arrives in London, August 12. 

[406] 



A Calendar of Lives 



1778. Proscribed by Massachusetts Govern- 

ment under penalty of death, May. 
Family joins him in London, August. 

1779. Admitted to Temple Bar as barrister. 
Property confiscated. 

1781. Chief Justice of Bermuda. 
1786. Ephraim Leonard dies leaving property 
to Daniel's son. 
1799 and 1808. Daniel visits America. 

1806. Second wife dies on the way to Provi- 
dence. 
181 5 (about). Returns to London, England. 

1828. Writes Will. 

1829. Dies by his own hand, June 29, London. 
1 83 1. Son found dead in the road, Norton. 
1849. Harriet, his daughter, dies, aged 75. 



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